“We’re helping Arabs go against the US. Don’t forget 9/11, guys”

Good Monday Morning,

Thanks to those of you who donated to the cause for the first time. If you have never done so, now is a good time to join them. It’s as easy as pie: just click here.

PlanPutnam/News That Matters readers Greg Brown and Peter Hansen are both celebrating their birthdays today.

Well! A lot has gone on during the past week, what with the Feds investigating connections to the county, Senator Leibell‘s people and the Town of Carmel, all of which are leading to wild speculation on the boards. There’s the ongoing saga of the $3.7 million corporate welfare handout to Paul Camarda being pushed by Legislative chair Vincent Tamagna and the entry of Mary Ellen O’Dell into the county executive’s race, pulling 30% of votes at the Republican convention signaling weakening support for the Senator. And Yorktown Democrat Brendan Tully has entered the race for the 99th District Assembly.

I have noticed over the past couple of months that over the issue of the $3.7 million corporate welfare handout to Paul Camarda to the issue of a mandatory tax that home improvement contractors must pay to the county to so many other local tax and wasteful spending issues like the Tilly Foster Welfare Plan, that the tea baggers have been absolutely silent. What’s with that? I suppose if the County Executive was a Black man they’d be all over the place. Okay, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe not. Maybe they like corporate welfare and wasteful spending at the local level? Anyone? Hello?

In the meantime, I’ve been commuting at odd times back and forth to NYC to stage manage the world premiere of Fox Tales at the Gene Frankel Theater at 24 Bond Street, corner of Lafayette. The show continues this week on Thursday at 7:30PM, then next Monday, the 14th at 8PM, finishing up on Sunday, June 20th at 1PM. More information on all that can be found here. If you’re a weekender there’s no reason to miss the show. (Yeah, that was a shameless plug.)

If you live in the Mahopac library district, please vote in the affirmative for your library budget.

The Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee meets this evening at 7PM at the East Fishkill Public Library. Remember that Putnam County plays an important role in the Fishkill Creek Watershed.

Members of a local political party are putting a great deal of pressure on me to run for the County Executive’s seat and of this writing I’m having nothing to do with it. Some have already paid the price that Unca Vinnie can dole out – and to be honest, my mental health is more important to me than being viciously and personally attacked. Let’s not forget the horrendous campaign the Senator ran against Joe D’Ambrosio when he ran back in the day and the estimated $180,000 he spent attacking Greg Ball two years ago, money so misspent that it made the Ballster stronger, not weaker. Unless his modus operandi has changed over the years he wins this election by being the most feared bully on the block.

In case you were interested, the county’s portion of the utility bills at Tilly Foster is somewhere around $37,000 and the property tax bill we have to pick up is around $20,000. We also don’t know what the management costs are at the farm (Harold Gary does, maybe,) since as the property owner we’re responsible, as any landlord would be, for repairs on the buildings and management of the grounds.

Those of you visiting the website will have noticed a bit of a change in layout and menus. I was having some problems with the former template so switched to something else that has a similar look and feel but more stable functionality.

If you’re getting News That Matters by email from Google Groups you’re probably only getting the text version which means you’re missing out on much of what’s here. You can switch to the full html version easily enough by going to the website and entering your email address into the “Subscribe by email” box in the right-hand column of the website. (Let me know and I’ll pull your name from the old list so you’re not getting duplicates). What you’ll get is a single post, once a day, of all the articles I’ve posted to the blog including the full editions of this newsletter.

If you’re interested in receiving email posts for everything posted to the site then click on one of the RSS feed buttons on that page and your email reader will do the rest for you. Or, just click on the RSS feed link right here.

If you want to post a new article to the website all you need do is to “Register” and then log in. Take a few moments after that to become familiar with the interface and feel free to experiment and poke around as I don’t think you can break anything.

If you want to comment on an existing article, no login or registration is required. Just read the article and at the bottom you’ll find adequate space for your words of wisdom.

In other News:

• New data shows that the US ranks 22nd on the list of most taxed industrialized nations. Belgium leads the pack with 55% of personal income going to taxes while the US weighs in at 29.4%. And looking at the list it’s clear that quality of life (health care, mass transit, scientific advances, alternative energy, lower crime rates) increases as the tax wedge increases.
• Sarah Palin blames environmentalists for the BP explosion and subsequent oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico claiming that it’s the distance off-shore that made it so difficult to cap. She again offered the option of drilling for oil in ANWR on Alaska’s north slope.
• Sonic Youth, Rage Against the Machine and other national and international acts are boycotting Arizona and the city of Phoenix figures they’ve lost $100 million in convention bookings since Governor Jan Brewer signed SB1070 into law. In the meantime, the governor has allocated $250,000 to re-brand the state as a Nice, Friendly Place.
• Most agree that the war on (some) drugs is an expensive and horrible failure which costs us some $100 billion a year and putting hundreds of thousands of Americans behind bars giving the US the worlds highest incarceration rate. So, come November you’ll find many communities across the nation voting on the legalization of marijuana.

1. Hudson River monitoring system unveiled
2. Ives Trail [Danbury] earns state greenway designation
3. Use Jupiter to Find the Elusive Planet Uranus
4. Woman sues over handicap parking ticket
5. ‘Peak Oil’ Movement Prepares for the Worst
6. Ron Paul: Obama facing too much blame on oil spill
7. Private neighbours and a boy who likes to draw guns among ‘suspects’ of terror hotline

Hudson River monitoring system unveiled

POUGHKEEPSIE – The newest addition to the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System (HRECOS) was unveiled Saturday afternoon during Poughkeepsie’s River Day Festivities at Waryas Park in Poughkeepsie.

The state-of-the-art environmental monitoring system will now be onboard the sloop Clearwater and will provide scientists and the public with a range of real-time data taken directly from the waters of the Hudson River.

According to State Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis, HRECOS is a monitoring network made up of eight stations along the Hudson River estuary, from New York Harbor to just north of Albany, which provides scientists with vital information about the river as well as recreationists with the information they need to know about water conditions.

The new equipment will be available to the public, said Clearwater Executive Director Jeff Rumpf.

“Clearwater, the great river platform, is now a science station. Fifteen thousand kids a year come on Clearwater and these young people will be the next generation of environmental leaders, so now those kids will have world class scientists right there at their fingertips.”

Read More

Ives Trail [Danbury] earns state greenway designation

The 15-mile Ives Trail, a hiking trail that will link open space in at least three local towns, has earned recognition as a state greenway.

The Connecticut Greenways Council made the designation Friday in a ceremony in Putnam. The Ives Trail was one of eight greenways to get the recognition there.

“This is a great thing,” Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said Friday. “It provides us with a level of authenticity. This really gives us an official stamp of approval.”

The recognition brings the Ives Trail into a state system of more than 50 greenways — corridors of open space that protect natural resources and scenic beauty and connect open space parcels to create a larger system.

When completed, the Ives Trail will connect the extensive town trail system in Redding with a hiking trail that will link Tarrywile Park and Wooster Mountain State Park in Danbury, and the Pine Mountain Preserve and Bennett’s Pond State Park in Ridgefield.

Read More

Use Jupiter to Find the Elusive Planet Uranus

It isn’t very often that we get an easy chance at spotting one of the outer members of the solar system more than a billion miles out from the sun, but during the latter half of this year into early 2011 the planet Jupiter will engage the distant planet Uranus in series of three cosmic meet-ups.

The planet Uranus is right at the edge of visibility for the unaided human eye. Under perfectly dark skies in rural locations, it can be spotted by people with sharp eyes who know where to look. But few have actually ever seen it without binoculars or a telescope.

This week the first of the three pairings, called conjunctions, will take place and anyone with access to a clear sky and good binoculars should have no problem in getting a glimpse of Uranus, using its close proximity to Jupiter to guide you.

Look for Uranus, along with Jupiter, in the eastern sky after 2 a.m. local daylight time. By late July, it’s crossing the meridian at the break of dawn. Opposition comes in late September; thereafter it’s conveniently placed in the evening sky for the rest of the year.

Read More

Woman sues over handicap parking ticket

DANVERS, Mass. — A battle over a handicap parking spot has turned ugly between one woman and the town of Danvers.

Janice Eberle of Lynnfield was ticketed for parking her Mercedes SUV in a BJ’s handicapped spot in Danvers.

“I don’t deny that it was wrong, but under the circumstances, the torrential rains, everything, the ticket I couldn’t even read it was soaked within two seconds,” said Eberle.

According to Eberle, she ran into the store for just a few minutes and when she came out, she had been issued a $300 ticket from Danvers Police.

Read More

‘Peak Oil’ Movement Prepares for the Worst

Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

Jennifer Wilkerson’s preparations for a post-petroleum world include growing her own food and stockpiling supplies against any shortages.

As oil continued to pour into the Gulf of Mexico on a recent Saturday, Jennifer Wilkerson spent three hours on the phone talking about life after petroleum.

For Mrs. Wilkerson, 33, a moderate Democrat from Oakton, Va., who designs computer interfaces, the spill reinforced what she had been obsessing over for more than a year — that oil use was outstripping the world’s supply. She worried about what would come after: maybe food shortages, a collapse of the economy, a breakdown of civil order. Her call was part of a telephone course about how to live through it all.

In bleak times, there is a boom in doom.

Americans have long been fascinated by disaster scenarios, from the population explosion to the cold war to global warming. These days the doomers, as Mrs. Wilkerson jokingly calls herself and likeminded others, have a new focus: peak oil. They argue that oil supplies peaked as early as 2008 and will decline rapidly, taking the economy with them.

Located somewhere between the environmental movement and the bunkered survivalists, the peak oil crowd is small but growing, reaching from health food stores to Congress, where a Democrat and a Republican formed a Congressional Peak Oil Caucus.

Read More

Ron Paul: Obama facing too much blame on oil spill

President Barack Obama won a defense of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from one GOP congressman on Thursday.

Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican lawmaker from Texas, said that people were expecting too much from the president in his ability to react to the ongoing spill into the Gulf.

“I’m a pretty big critic of the president,” Paul said during an appearance on “Imus in the Morning” on the Fox Business Network, “but I just don’t see the justification for coming down hard on the president.”

“I think it represents the idea that the American people think the president is everything to everybody that he should fix an oil leak,” Paul added.

Read More

Private neighbours and a boy who likes to draw guns among ‘suspects’ of terror hotline

By Andrew Chamberlain
Last updated at 12:24 PM on 1st June 2010

A schoolboy ‘obsessed’ with drawing pictures of bombs and guns, and a neighbour who liked to keep his curtains drawn, are among dozens of people being reported to a police scheme aimed to unearth potential terrorists.

Critics of the Channel Project say it encourages people to spy on their neighbours, but police claim the scheme’s aim is to prevent ‘vulnerable people’ becoming radicalised.

Dozens of people in East Lancashire, mainly aged between 15 and 24, have been reported to police for having either extremist Islamic views, far-right leanings and or being IRA sympathisers.
Channel project

Vigilance or spying? The Channel Project encourages people to report any suspicious behaviour to police. Critics say it could infringe on the right to privacy

Police complete background checks on all individuals reported before a panel meets to decide if any action needs to be taken.

Read More

Good Friday Morning,

Wow! Yesterday was quite a day for email and phone calls and you all kept me busier than a mother cat with a new litter. And to those of you who made donations to the cause, (PW, RR, CC and AjS) You are loved! And to those of you who have not helped out, you owe those people your gratitude.

Sources say that the County Legislature, led by Philipstown’s Vincent Tamagna, and the Physical Services Committee which is headed up by Kent’s Richard Othmer, is now actively working with the State DOT to get them to pay for the road improvements developer Paul Camarda had promised to make on his own dime. Apparently the $3.7 million is a make-or-break deal for him and that without someone footing the bill Patterson Crossing may be mortally wounded.

What we need to do now is to shift our collective efforts to the State level to make absolutely certain they don’t play this game. Corporate Welfare is Corporate Welfare no matter how you spin it.

Call:

• Acting Regional Director for NYSDOT Region 8, William Gorton at (845) 431-5750
• Sandy Galef (914) 941-1111 (GalefS@assembly.state.ny.us)
• Greg Ball, (845) 279-5301 (or contact here) and,
• State Senator Vinnie Leibell (845) 279-3773 (or contact here)

And tell them that in order to get the necessary approvals the developer had promised to pay for these improvements out-of-pocket and there’s no logical reason for that to change.

The State DOT says it’s a “home rule” issue and that they’ve already received a number of phone calls but that won’t preclude them from either finding $3.7 million (if someone high enough up the ladder requests it), or to shift that money from another project. It just sets a bad precedent to have taxpayers pay for what a private developer says he’ll do on his own dime.

As I wrote the other day about this case vigilance is necessary.

Gabbie’s three short plays will be directed by Patterson’s Tony Howarth and one of them, “The Graveyard Shift”, was first staged right here in Putnam County then made into a short film by Kent’s Chris Casaburi. I’ve worked with both Tony and Gabby before but this is my first time in this capacity.

There will be 6 performances: Thursday, June 3 at 9PM, Saturday June 5th at noon, Sunday, June 6th at 3:30PM, Thursday, June 10th at 7:30PM, Monday June 14th at 8PM and Sunday June 20th at 1PM.

More information about the event is here. And, a great write-up from the NYJN is here. (Read it!)

If anyone reading in The City has an available apartment, spare bedroom or a comfy couch for me to sleep on from Thursday night (late) June 3rd through Saturday night June 5th, please let me know. Downtown is preferable but almost anywhere within the city Subway system will work just fine.

• Mary Ellen O’Dell has gonads the size of Texas and I wish her well even though she’s gone to the Ballside of things. (There’s a rally bad unintentional pun in there somewhere… sorry.)
• Across the nation more than 100,000 teachers are facing layoffs. At the Pentagon, 0 people are facing layoffs. What’s wrong with that picture? We’ll conquer the world but won’t be able to find it on a map.
• Cops across the nation are concerned that Arizona’s news immigration laws will upset the precarious balance of ‘trust’ people have with the police.
• Oil is still flooding out of the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico and the Obama Administration is still saddled with the mess left by the Bush Administration.

• Friday, May 28
  • In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
  • The Film Music of Virgil Thomson
• Saturday, May 29
  • Constitution Marsh Paddle
  • Spring Art Exhibit
  • Kent Library Giant Book Sale
• Into the Future:
  • Tuesday, June 1
    • Gasland
  • Wednesday, June 2
    • Smart Management for Small Communities:  Practical Resources for Local Governance
    • Homeschoolers Nature Education
  • Thursday, June 3
    • Fox Tales
  • Friday, June4
    • A Celebration of Procol Harum
  • Saturday, June 5
    • Help Clean Up the Fall Kill Creek
    • River Day 2010
  • Sunday, June 6
    • PAC Benefit for the ARTS – Songs of World War II
  • Friday, June 11
    • Fund Raiser for Mike Kaplowitz
  • Sunday, June 13
    • Meet and Greet With Mike Kaplowitz
    • Strawberry Festival
  • Saturday-Sunday, June 19-20, 2010
    • Clearwater Festival- Great Hudson River Revival

Friday, May 28

In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

7:30PM – Filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8″ activists who protested the Vietnam War. When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer.

To his daughters, it seemed that he was at the center of everything important that had ever happened. But when they were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins. This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for; it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his family so that justice could serve all. Tickets $20 includes Q&A with the director and reception. Call or email to reserve!! 845-424-3900 or membership@philipstowndepottheatre.org

The Film Music of Virgil Thomson

7:30 PM. Hosted by Curator Geoff Welch, The presentation will include restored versions of Thomson’s The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River with beautifully performed new recordings of the scores and narration. Both films were directed and written by Pare Lorentz with cinematography by Paul Strand.

Virgil Thomson’s (1896-1989) scores for the Plow The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) and The River (1937) are gems that influenced the development of the “American Sound” in classical music. The River was voted the best documentary film at the 1938 Venice Film festival (beating Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympiad)

Sponsored by the United States Resettlement Administration, the environment subjects of both films are a chilling parallel to current issues and an object lesson in the difficulty of establishing effective governmental policies for sustainability. The films will be projected on a large screen with stereo sound from a superb PA system. Refreshments will be served following the presentation. A free event, reservations are requested. Harmony Hall (1848) is a National Register of Historic Places Site. 15 Liberty Rock Road, Sloatsburg, NY, 10974. Reservations at geoffwelch@gmail.com, (845) 712-5220

Saturday, May 29

Constitution Marsh Paddle

11AM – Beginning Paddlers Welcome!  Leader: Geri Wildenberg email: gwildenberg@hvc.rr.com or 845-406-5988 (before 9pm). Cold Spring. Fun for new paddlers and experienced paddlers too. Opportunity to see wildlife and views of West Point in a secluded and easy to get to location. Paddle 3-4 hours at a very easy pace. Bring snacks and water. PFD Required!  Meet at Metro North parking lot in Cold Spring not later than 11:00am. Register with leader by 5/26/10 (Ed note: try anyway!)

Spring Art Exhibit

1PM – 5PM – At the Cultural Center on Lake Carmel, Route 52, just south of the Route 311 causeway. Opening Reception With Over 45 artists including Wendy Alvarez , Pallas Athene Niver, Dianne Bibault, Rhonda Birmele, Patricia Bolgosano, Maria Calegari, Chris Casaburi, Bill Cody, Bart Cook, George Davison, Jeanne Demotses, Anita Eddy, Eric Ficinus, Eleanor Haggerty, Geneva Hamilton, Kate Hoekstra, Bruce Iacono, Mike Keropian, Kat LaRanger, Kate & Ray LaRanger, Deborah Lecce, Don Longabucco, Tori Lucas, Jessica McMath, Lisa Marie Meinck, Jerry Michalak, Eugenia Mierisch, Thom Murphy, Amanda O’Shaughnessy, Ekaterina Piskareva, Joe Pizzuti, Bob Rogers, Jackie Scelia, Rena Scelia, Mary Schreiber, Erinn Shaw, Thel Simon, Greg Solanto, Justo Soza, Jerry Spette, Marcela Szwarc, Mary Ann Taormina, Herberto Turizzo Anaya and Roy Volpe will display new works in this annual spring art exhibit. The Friends of Kent Library will sponsor a hand-selected Arts Book Sale of both bargains and collector items during the Opening Weekend of the Exhibit. Free Admission. Contact: Arts on the Lake

Kent Library Giant Book Sale

What? It’s time to get ready for the Kent Library Giant Book Sale! We need volunteers for all phases of the sale – set up, staffing sale, take down, publicity, etc. If you are able to help us, please contact Kaye Baum at (845) 225-3942 or Rich Harrison at rjamesharrison@cs.com. We are now accepting books/audios/cds/DVDs for the sale. The books should be in good condition, smoke free, and unsoiled. Please no textbooks, Reader’s Digest, or outdated encyclopedias. Thank you in advance for your willingness to support the sale. Many hands make the work light. Let’s all work to create a great success!

Into the Future:

Tuesday, June 1

Gasland

7PM – Winner Special Jury Prize Documentary Winner Special Jury Prize Documentary – 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Can you imagine being able to light your tap water on fire? Join the Cary Institute for a special public screening of Gasland, a prize-winning documentary exploring the health and environmental risks associated with natural gas drilling. The 105 minute film will be followed by a Q&A with director Jeff Fox and Cary Institute scientists.   When a gas company offered Jeff Fox $100,000 to lease his family’s Pennsylvania land, he decided to educate himself on the topic of natural gas drilling. What he discovered shocked him into filming a documentary. Flammable tap water, chronically sick citizens, and contaminated air were among the ills found in communities where natural gas “fracking” has been occurring.   Part travelogue, part expose, part showdown―Gasland is a must-see for concerned citizens. Events are free and open to the public.  Seating is limited. For more information, call (845) 677-7600 x 121 or e-mail freemanp@caryinstitute.org. Location:  Cary Institute auditorium, located at 2801 Sharon Turnpike (Rte. 44) in Millbrook, New York.

Wednesday, June 2

Smart Management for Small Communities:  Practical Resources for Local Governance

8:30 am – 6:00 pm – Hosted by:  Environmental Finance Center-Syracuse University, serving Region 2 of the Environmental Protection Agency, and co-sponsored with the NYS Water Resources Institute.   As a part of the Environmental Finance Center’s Public Management Finance Program (PMFP) series, this event will focus on the needs of municipal leaders and provide technical assistance, funding updates, and practical skill-building sessions. Who should attend?  Elected officials, wastewater, drinking water and solid waste systems operators, and all interested parties.  Every attendee will hear from state and federal agency representatives on funding updates and opportunities, and concurrent break-out sessions including asset management, alternative strategies in drinking water management, wastewater management, and solid waste management.  Keynote presentation by Ed Clerico, Principal of Alliance Environmental.   The event promises to be educational, functional, practical, and thought-provoking.  For more details, see attached workshop announcement PDF. Fee is $75.  Register online at:  www.efc.syracusecoe.org. Registration deadline:  May 10, 2010. Location:  Bear Mountain Conference Center (but give it a go anyway if you’re interested)

Homeschoolers Nature Education

12:30PM – 2:30PM – Come and join other homeschoolers to learn about the fascinating life cycle of the beautiful butterflies and moths that visit Minnewaska State Park each year. Children will be led on a walk to look for caterpillars, moths and butterflies and then they will make their own insect mask to take home. This program is recommended for children six years old and up, accompanied by an adult over the age of 18 years. Pre-registration is required.

Thursday, June 3

Fox Tales

An Evening of One Act Plays written by Gabrielle Fox, directed by Patterson’s Tony Howarth. A Gabrielle Fox production benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Winfluence, The Graveyard Shift and Good Friday.

Three new one-act plays explore relationships between opposites. Two office assistants in a shared space, a drag queen and a red neck in a cemetery, a down and out woman and a biblical theme park character all struggle to overcome their differences, whether they want to or not. Purchase tickets here.

Cast: Jess Erick, Margie Ferris, Fidel Fonteboa, Donna James, Stephen Medwid and Fred Rueck.

Running time: 60 minutes, no intermission. Venue: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street
Performance dates: Thurs 6/3 @ 9pm, Sat 6/5 @ 12pm, Sun 6/6 @3:30pm, Thurs 6/10 @ 7:30pm, Mon 6/14 @ 8pm, Sun 6/20 @ 1pm.

Friday, June4

A Celebration of Procol Harum

7:30PM – A tasty selection of vintage and recent live DVD performances by Procol Harum including splendid 2006 performances with the Danish National Concert Orchestra and choir. The footage will be projected on a large screen with sound from a superb PA system.  Hosted by Curator Geoff Welch, this free event is presented, as part of the Harmony Hall Friday Night Salon Series, in honor of Procol Harum’s eagerly awaited North American tour this June.  The group’s classic single,  A Whiter Shade of Pale was the #1 song in the world in July 1967, followed over time by a series of incredible singles and albums that are treasured by astute fans. A Free event, refreshments will be served. Reservations are requested as limited seating is available in the Harmony Hall Salon. Harmony Hall (1848) is a National Register of Historic Places Site. 15 Liberty Rock Road, Sloatsburg, NY, 10974. Reservations at geoffwelch@gmail.com, (845) 712-5220

Saturday, June 5

Help Clean Up the Fall Kill Creek

1:00 -4:00 pm (raindate June 12) Clearwater and the Fall Kill Watershed Committee are partnering with Hudson River Housing’s Middle Main Initiative to host a Creek Clean Up on the Fall Kill which flows through the city of Poughkeepsie and empties into the Hudson River next to the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum.  Participants should meet at the Public Safety Building, 505 Main Street Poughkeepsie at 1pm to register.  Contact Jen Rubbo, Fall Kill Watershed Coordinator at jen@clearwater.org or call 845-265-8080 x 7114 to register in advance and for more information.

River Day 2010

All Day – From New York City to Albany, several organizations, Clearwater, Riverkeeper, Hudson River Foundation, Scenic Hudson, HRECOS, Hudson River Maritime Museum, Governor’s Island Alliance, New York Parks and Trails, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program, have joined together to make “River Day” an annual tradition, building on the very popular River Day of 2009. Throughout the Hudson River watershed

Sunday, June 6

PAC Benefit for the ARTS – Songs of World War II

Join us Sunday, June 6th, the anniversary of D-Day, for a USO style show of the great songs of WWII as performed by the Voices of Hope. Area performers Craig Brown, Leo Brown, Joseph (Rocky) Colavito, Kirsten Edlund, Eileen Olifers, Marty Posner, Sherrie House and pianist Sue Yanarella will serve up classics like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, It’s Only a Paper Moon, The White Cliffs of Dover and more, for a window into the 1940’s.

This popular fundraiser will be offered at Belle Levine Art Center, 521 Kennicut Hill Rd., Mahopac. Tickets are only $30.00 (Members $25.00) and include treats at intermission. Reservations requested. Directions and details on this and all the programs and services of the Putnam Arts Council at putnamartscouncil.com or 845.803.8622

Friday, June 11

Fund Raiser for Mike Kaplowitz

7:30 PM Come out and support Mike Kaplowitz as he works to be the next State Senator from the 40th District. At a private home in Putnam Valley. Write for more information.

Sunday, June 13

Meet and Greet With Mike Kaplowitz

2PM – At a private home in Mahopac. Write for more information.

Strawberry Festival

Noon- 5PM – Hosted by the Beacon Sloop Club

Saturday-Sunday, June 19-20, 2010

Clearwater Festival- Great Hudson River Revival

Dawn to Dusk – A festival celebrating music and the environment.  Seven stages with live music and performance artists!  Featuring Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin, David Bromberg Quartet, Pete Seeger, Joan Osborne, Buckwheat Zydeco, Subdudes, Keller Williams, Railroad Earth, Donna the Buffalo, and many others.  Other attractions include:  Story Grove, World Dance Stage, Green Living Expo, Sails on the Clearwater and Mystic Whaler, Family Stage, Jugglers and Face Painting, Juried Crafts, Great Food, Hudson River Education Exhibits.  For tickets and more information, see  www.clearwaterfestival.org. Location:  Croton Point Park, Croton, NY

Honest. I wasn’t asking for the world! I was only asking that for my $250 contractors fee tax registration, that I get something in return from the county. At least that was the premise of my talk before the Legislature’s Rules Committee last evening.

Here’s the list of people who must pay this exorbitant tax. If you are engaged in any of these jobs:

(1) Asphalt or blacktop or driveway sealing.
(2) Landscaping and gardening.
(3) Arboriculture.
(4) Lawn mowing/ground maintenance/leaf blowing/or any similar outdoor vocation. (Note: shall not apply to full-time students under the age of 22 engaged in seasonal or part-time employment and who do not have employees).
(5) Swimming pools.
(6) Porches, patios, terraces, decks and any other outdoor stonework.
(7) Garages and garage doors.
(8) Central vacuum cleaning systems.
(9) Storm windows.
(10) Septic systems.
(11) Insulation.
(12) Waterproofing.
(13) Tiling.
(14) Fencing.
(15) Painting and wall coverings.
(16) Flooring and wall-to-wall carpeting.
(17) Masonry.
(18) Roofing.
(19) Awnings or siding.
(20) Antennas or satellite dishes.
(21) Carpentry.
(22) Excavation.
(23) Environmental reclamation.
(24) Other interior or exterior improvements.

I love (24)…

My very first comment upon taking my seat at the dais was that I did not want to talk about the job the Department of Consumer Affairs was doing, the validity of the program contractor fees  are funding nor the benefits of having that program as those are discussions for another day – and to be honest I have no issue with it, only that for the (now not-so) hidden tax I get something other than the ability to work.

But in typical political fashion, Legislators were largely unable to stay focused on the issue and especially from Tony Hay and to a slightly lesser degree Legislator Tamagna, all I heard were negatives; why those dollars could not be spent supporting or assisting the people who are paying them.

Rules Committee member Legislator Mary Conklin took issue with the $250 saying that it was “only” $125 a year and then insisted on using the lower number as did other Legislators for the rest of the talk as if a smaller tax with no benefits was somehow more acceptable.

But what it comes down to is this: Contractors working in Putnam County, and that includes everything from the guy who puts a paint brush on the wall in your closet to the guy who cuts your grass to the guy who puts in your storm windows, must pay a tax of $250 every two years, carry a bond with the county named as a payee and carry $1 million worth if insurance which also names the county, otherwise they cannot work or, if they do, are liable for criminal action. And what do contractors get for their money? They get nothing of substance other than the sheer joy of funding a program that is designed to penalize the occasional bad apples in our bunch. Why doesn’t the Legislature simply tax the county in general for this program? Because, as one said, he hasn’t gotten bathroom painted.

No matter how hard I tried to get the Leg back on target members largely brought things around to what they wanted to talk about and not the issue at hand. And yes, I sat quietly and let them rant – which for those of you who know me was an act of Herculean strength and personal fortitude worthy of the history books.

You might wonder what it was I was asking for, what tremendous flaming hoops I was asking the county to provide me with for my money? Here’s the list as presented last evening.

• I asked for monthly communication (via email if necessary) from the county about upcoming new rules and programs that might affect my work. Somehow this isn’t feasible, but might be. Maybe.
• A yearly public posting of licensed and registered contractors so that the public has a list of contractors they must (according to the law) use. According to Joe LaBarbera, the amiable gentleman who runs the Consumer Affairs program, the list would be obsolete within 30 days of posting so no-go there. It was suggested that perhaps the county might include a web address of the contractors list in the FOX Courier a few times a year. Not very helpful since most don’t read that paper.
• I asked the county to open their health insurance pool – without subsidy – so that the majority of us who do not have health insurance might tap into the lower costs of a larger insurance pool. This would not only include  the possibility of covering those who are not covered but might also lower the overall insurance costs for the county. Legislator Conklin said that she’d send an inquiry to the Personal Department to see if this was something they could do. We’ll keep up on that to see where it goes.
• I thought the county might involve itself in a liability insurance pool which could lower the cost of insurance for the ~1000 contractors registered and licensed in the county thus putting more money back into the local economy.
• I asked that training programs which might cover some of the work we do be subsidized using the logic that the county could buy 50 seats at a seminar a lot cheaper and then pass that savings on to us which are then passed on to you.
• I asked that the county provide free OSHA and other training for contractors to better help us help our customers who are the residents of this county.
• And finally I asked for better access to the Shop Putnam campaign and other programs the county runs that could better connect the blue-collar backbone of our communities with county residents.

To virtually every one of these requests for either service or access some member of the Leg talked, often at length, about why this could not be for in the end they have no desire nor intention of assisting the workforce of this county and only want our dollars – which you eventually pay – to fund a department they are too afraid to tax you for directly.

I was lectured about the great job the Department is doing. I was told how they barely squeak even, financially. I was even told that through some magical twist of the tenth dimension my $250 forced contribution to the county was a benefit to me. I was told about all the programs they run for consumers. But what I wasn’t told was why they take our dollars and give us nothing in return. That, they seemed to have glossed over as politicians tend to do.

There was tacit support for my position from Legislators Tony Fusco and Sam Oliverio and if you see them on streets be sure to stop and thank them.

One bright note: I never fail to be impressed with Legislator Dan Birmingham who adeptly ran a grueling, two-hour Rules Committee meeting which dealt with a great deal more than just this issue. There’s a bright future for that man if he should chose to follow it.

But I’m not done with this as watching the eels squirm last night was both enlightening and entertaining in a sick sort of way and in the meantime I’m either not working or working out-of-county to try to come up with the $250 (whoops! I missed the deadline… so I have to pay an extra $25 tax on top of the tax!) so I can work again here in Putnam. It matters not to them that they’ve got my bond and insurance on hand (cost around $800) which meets their fiscal requirements, they want that tax!

In the meantime, contractors are being forced to pay an outrageously high fee for the filing of paperwork that takes us hours to complete and the county moments to file and we get nothing in return and there’s no apparent legislative movement to change that.

Taxing one demographic to pay for services for another is not good governance, but a budgetary shell game played by politicians who tax those most likely to remain silent. But the people being hurt most are those who are doing nothing more than trying to keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs, their children clothed and their families secure. If this is what you expect from your county government, this is what you got.

British Petroleum is most likely lying about the amount of oil coming from their uncapped well in the Gulf of Mexico (see this!), The NY State Department of Health has released a map which shows cancer clusters across the state, school board elections are coming on Tuesday and there’s not one issue on consolidation, the European Commission on Global Environmental Monitoring has a released a map showing the ever decreasing amounts of wilderness, Glenn Beck is still on the air,  Facebook‘s privacy statement is over 5000 empty words long, mountains in West Virginia are being leveled and dumped into valleys to supply the United States with dirty coal, the Alabama Teacher’s Union has joined Creationists, and the cost of the wars in Afghanistan ($271.3 billion) and Iraq ($722.6 billion) are still escalating without any end in sight. So far New Yorkers have or will pay about $89.1 billion of that. Where’s a tea bagger when you need one, eh?

I’m not in a good mood this morning and neither should you be.

On the other hand the weather is supposed to be pretty nice this weekend so you can get out there and replant the garden crops that were killed during this past week’s hard freeze. There’s a new poll at PlanPutnam/News That Matters which asks what you like to do on weekends and you are free to vote on up to three of the items listed. Check it out.

The Putnam Arts Council invites artists to submit a maximum of 2 pieces of original fine art for our next exhibit, Evolution. The show will open Sunday, May 23, with a public reception from 2-4pm at Belle Levine Art Center, 521 Kennicut Hill Rd. in Mahopac, and remain on view through 6/18 during gallery hours, Tuesday – Friday, 10-3 and Sunday 1-4.

Submissions will be accepted at the Art Center Wednesday 5/12 through Saturday 5/15 from 11-3pm. Work will be juried for inclusion and awards by Carinda Swann, a working visual artist with a BFA and an MA in Fine Arts and Theatre Arts. A teaching artist at Marist College for 15 years, Ms. Swann is also the founder of the Summer Art Institute at Garrison Art Center, where she is currently the Executive Director. Details and a prospectus are available at our website, putnamartscouncil.com.

PAC offers 6-8 exhibit opportunities yearly in addition to concerts, films and special events in our multi-use gallery space. We also offer classes for adults and children in the visual arts, pottery, dance and yoga and more. Details on all our programs and those of many of our cultural constituents are available at putnamartscouncil.com or call the office at (845.803.8622)Tuesday – Friday 10-4.

• Friday, May 14
  • • May Art Exhibit at Kent Library
    • “An Evening In the River with Chris Bowser”
    • Mike Clark / Tim Ouimette Big Band
    • View the International Space Station
  • Saturday, May 15
    • Spring Canoe Trips in the Great Swamp
    • Master Gardeners’ 2010 Plant Sale
    • Hike: The Birds of Lake Alice
    • Catskill’s Shelter Caretaking Workshop
    • The Amazing Nineteenth Century: A Century of Innovation
    • Evening Walk on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
  • Sunday, May 16
    • Vesak – The Buddha’s Birthday
    • “Veggie Pride Parade and Rally”
    • Sunday Author Series with John Curran
    • Documentary “Transition” movement of sustainable communities
  • Into the Future:
    • Monday, May 17
      • Congressional Art Competition Award Ceremony
    • Thursday, May 20
      • Third Thursday Series
    • Saturday, May 22
      • Putnam County Land Trust Volunteer Work Party
      • Spring Art Exhibit
    • Saturday, May 29
      • Kent Library Giant Book Sale
    • Wednesday, June 2
      • Smart Management for Small Communities:  Practical Resources for Local Governance
    • Thursday, June 3
      • Fox Tales
    • Friday, June 11
      • Fund Raiser for Mike Kaplowitz
    • Sunday, June 13
      • Strawberry Festival

Friday, May 14

May Art Exhibit at Kent Library

You’re As Welcome as the Flowers in May…
…to an exhibit of Kate Hoekstra’s paintings at the Kent Library from May 1-May 29, 2010 during regular library hours. Please come to see Kate’s florals and portraits during this beautiful month when we celebrate mothers and the return of flowers. More on Kate and her work can be found here.

“An Evening In the River with Chris Bowser”

6:30PM – An evening of seining for fish, data collection, and discussion of what makes the Hudson River such a valuable resource and important habitat to so many kinds of life, especially humankind. A perspective from IN the river. At the Long dock in Beacon, Free. (845) 476-6674, (845) 542-0721,  www.beaconsloopclub.org

Mike Clark / Tim Ouimette Big Band

8:00 pm – Drum legend Mike Clark and trumpeter Tim Ouimette have put together a band that includes Seth Carper on Alto Sax, Bill Harris on Tenor Sax, Rick Kriska on Baritone Sax, Dan Yeager on Trumpet, Art Triggs on Trombone, Jeff Pittson on Piano and Joe Sinaguglia on Bass. Since Mike Clark’s explosive arrival on the music scene with Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, he has continued to influence successive generation of drummers. Currently working with trumpeter Tim Ouimette on a new album, some of which will be explored in this extraordinary concert. Hosted by Arts on the Lake at the Cultural Center on Lake Carmel. Tickets:  $9.00 – $10.00

View the International Space Station

9:09PM – If the weather is clear this evening at around 9PM, look towards the West-North-West and then in a line overhead to see the International Space Station, all 240′ x 300′ of it as it soars silently across the evening sky. The transit takes only three minutes from horizon to horizon so look quick! It’s coming at magnitude -4.0 which in astronomical terms is “very bright” meaning that if the sky is clear and you’re looking in the general direction indicated, you really can’t miss it. Other than the sun and the moon, the ISS will be brighter than any object in the sky this evening.

Saturday, May 15

Spring Canoe Trips in the Great Swamp

Departures scheduled for: 8:15 AM, 10:15 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM – Repeated tomorrow, Sunday, May 16th.

Each year Friends of the Great Swamp leads canoe trips on the East Branch Croton River into one of the largest wetlands in New York State. Join us on one of these enjoyable adventures into the Great swamp and experience this beautiful and valuable resource for yourself. As we enter this magical wilderness we will explore the biodiversity and learn more about the values of this nationally significant wetland. The Swamp provides critical habitat for aquatic species as well as for migrating and breeding birds. We have seen Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Prothonotary Warblers and Common yellowthroats as well as Wood Duck, Mallards and many, many more. There are Turtles, Dragonflies, some fantastic plants and possibly catch a glimpse of a mink or a muskrat.

Explore the Swamp with FrOGS. Meet us at the Green Chimney’s Beach on Doansburg Road (formerly Putnam Lake Road) of Rte 22. FrOGS members will guide each trip and point out the birds and plants as we canoe.

All levels of paddlers are welcome. We will provide canoes, paddles, Life jackets (bring your won if you wish) and a licensed Lifeguard. We suggest you bring bottled water, sunglasses and layered clothing to accommodate temperature changes. We will canoe rain or shine. In extreme conditions, we ask that you call for cancellation and rescheduling information.

Reservations are a must and space is limited so get your reservations early! For information and reservations contact:

Laurie Wallace at (845-279-8858) or Laurwally@aol.com subject: Canoe Trip

$22.00 Adult Member, $11.00 Child (6 to 14 years)
$26.00 Adult Non-member, $16.00 Child (6 to 14 years)

Master Gardeners’ 2010 Plant Sale

8:30 am to 12:30 pm at Tilly Foster Farm on Route 312, Brewster.The sale starts at 8:30 and those of you who have been there before know that getting there early is a must! We’ll have tomatoes by the hundred, perennials from the Master Gardeners’ own gardens, herbs and annuals grown locally just for us, and a new gift and tool tent. It’s time to get out there and grow something!

Cheaper than a corporate garden center: Prices (roughly and not to be quoted…): Herbs around $3 a pot; annual 6-packs around $2; veggies, $2 for a 2-pack or $3 for a 4.5” pot (tomatoes). Perennials from MGs gardens will be mostly $5 and up – lots of them in the $7-10 range. A flat of annuals is $14 and some nifty 8-pack herb collections (salsa collection, Italian collection, etc.) at $17 per 8-pack.

Hike: The Birds of Lake Alice

8:30 AM – Join with Putnam Highlands Audubon Society President Rich Anderson and longtime PHAS and HHLT board member Lew Kingsley for this birding hike around picturesque Lake Alice in Garrison, NY.  A wide variety of species inhabit this privately conserved treasure, and seasoned birders Rich and Lew are just the folks you want along to share their knowledge. Bring binoculars for an up-close look. Hike takes place on privately conserved land, directions will be provided when you register.  Meet: 8:30am Duration: 2 hrs. Level: Easy/Family-friendly. Pre-Registration information is here.

Catskill’s Shelter Caretaking Workshop

10am – Come and join Douglas Senterman, the Catskill Lean-to Supervisor, for a shelter caretaking workshop.  No previous experience is necessary and beginners are welcome.  This one-day training session will cover the skills necessary to maintain a shelter (lean-to) so that it is ready for use by campers and is harmonious to its surroundings.  Students will learn how to do an assessment of the overall shelter condition, cleaning and clearing the area, the proper use of tools and how to report the shelters condition.  The workshop will take place at actual lean-tos so you will get hands-on experience.

Wear your hiking boots; pack plenty of water and a lunch.

The workshop will take place at Elm Ridge Lean-to off of the escarpment trail.  We will be walking up the Elm Ridge Trail (yellow) approximately 1 mile to the lean-to on an easy hike.  The parking area is located about 1.8 miles north of Maplecrest.  We will be meeting there at 10am and will walk into the lean-to as a group.
Directions to parking area: From Rt. 23 in Windham turn onto State Rt. 296 towards Hunter, when Rt. 296 makes a hard right in Hensonville continue straight on to Maplecrest Road (County Rt. 40). At stop sign turn Right to stay on Maplecrest Road (County Rt.40).  At stop sign (in Hamlet of Maplecrest) turn Left onto Big Hollow Road (County Rt. 56).  Turn Left onto Peck Road and follow until the end where the parking area is located.  (For those with GPS or who would like to use MapQuest, an address you can enter is 197 Peck Road, Maplecrest, NY 12454-5023 – that will get you near the end of Peck Road, just continue up to the end)

For those who are interested we will continue our workshop at Batavia Kill Lean-to.  After completing instruction at Elm Ridge Lean-to we will return to our vehicles and take short drive up Big Hollow Road (County Rt. 56) to the next parking area.  We will walk into the Batavia Kill Lean-to on the Black Dome Range Trail (red) and then the Batavia Kill Trail (yellow).  This trip is also approximately 1 mile and is an easy to moderate hike.  This second lean-to is optional; however it will be an opportunity to see another shelter in a different condition and will allow you to put your newly learned skills to the test with more hands-on experience.

Directions to parking area: From the Elm Ridge Trail parking, go out to the end of Peck Road and make a Left onto Big Hollow Road (County Rt. 56) and follow until the end where the parking lot is located.

Please contact Laurie Rankin to sign up for one of these dates: laurierankin@hvc.rr.com (preferred) or by phone at 845-926-2182.

The Amazing Nineteenth Century: A Century of Innovation

5 pm – by Dr. J. Ward Regan. At the Putnam County Historical Museum in Cold Spring. The 19th century was a defining era for the history of Philipstown; join PCHS for a lecture with J. Ward Regan to learn more about the industrial and cultural context of the important time. Regan’s lecture “The Amazing Nineteenth Century” will explore: • specific innovations in communication and transportation that ushered in the modern world • the impact of accelerated rates of change on the individual • collective responses to the new world order, including burgeoning labor and religious movements • the relationship between the material transformation of the world and new ideas about society and government • the role of the Civil War in defining the nation’s character, and movement to an industrial rather than agrarian society. J. Ward Regan teaches history and philosophy in the Liberal Studies Program at New York University. He recently concluded a successful off-Broadway run of his one-man show, “A Paranoid’s Guide to History.” He has a Ph.D. in Labor and Cultural History and has been part of the New York Council for the Humanities Speakers in the Humanities Program since 2003. Admission: (There was no admission cost listed on the release so if you go and they want money you can either argue or make a donation… I’ll leave that up to you!) Cll 845-265-4010

Evening Walk on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge

Leader: Sue Mackson 845-471-9892 susiem6@juno.com  Join me at the Beacon Park north of the railroad station. We will walk back and forth on the bridge and repair to the park to admire the view and the sunset. Meet at west side of Metro North parking lot. Bring light supper and drink for after hike picnic.

Sunday, May 16

Vesak – The Buddha’s Birthday

10:30 AM – 4:30 PM – at the Chuang Yen Monastery on Route 301 in Kent. Vegetarian Food Fair, Mind Power Station, Free Medical Clinic, Buddhist Heritage Exhibition. 1:30 Folk Performances. Kids Playground, magic show and more!

Vesak is the biggest event for Buddhists worldwide to commemorate the birth of the historical Buddha. As Buddhists bathe the Buddha, we aspire to eradicate all defilements and impurities of the body and mind to bring about wisdom and compassion. We also wish that all sentient beings be free from attachment and attain their inherent Buddha nature. We graciously invite you to light blessing lamps on this day and to sponsor vegetarian meals for all participants.

“Veggie Pride Parade and Rally”

11:00am – NYC. Vegetarians, vegans, and animal rights activists converge for the “Veggie Pride Parade and Rally.” The events starts at 11:00am in Manhattan’s West Village, and at noon a march starts to the north end of Union Square Park. The rally at Union Square Park will have speakers, music, veg/vegan food, animal kindness information, and more attractions. Exhibitors will have tables, some with free items to take. Upstate New York will include representation from the Catskill Animal Sanctuary, Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, and Woodstock Farm Animals Sanctuary. Signs and costumes are welcome (organizers suggest people “”… dress as your favorite vegetable; perhaps you will win a prize!”) More information here.

Sunday Author Series with John Curran

4PM – Author of  “Peekskill’s African American History: A Hudson Valley Community’s Untold Story”, tells a gripping story around the Revoluntionary War, the Underground Railroad and the riots of 1949. Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, 199 Main St., Beacon, NY. Jo Merchant, (845) 838-1600 x 10, jmerchant@bire.org , www.bire.org , Free..

Documentary “Transition” movement of sustainable communities

7:00pm – “In Transition 1.0: from oil dependence to local resilience” (2010, http://TransitionCulture.org/in-transition/ ) A documentary film on the Transition movement filmed by members. ‘In Transition’ is the first detailed film about the Transition movement filmed by those that know it best, those who are making it happen on the ground. The Transition movement is about communities around the world responding to peak oil and climate change with creativity, imagination and humour, and setting about rebuilding their local economies and communities. It is positive, solutions focused, viral and fun. There will be a discussion group after the screening. This is the last film of the Transition Westchester Spring Film Series. Cost: Free, with donations accepted. Location: The First Unitarian Society of Westchester, 25 Old Jackson Ave, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. More information here.

Into the Future:

Monday, May 17

Congressional Art Competition Award Ceremony

6PM – Congressman John Hall (NY-19) will host an Awards Ceremony to announce the winner of the 2010 Congressional Art Competition at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill.

High School students from the 19th Congressional District have submitted original artwork for this competition. The entries were judged by a distinguished panel of jurors including art museum professionals and accomplished local artists. The winning entry will be displayed for one year in the United States Capitol alongside the winning artwork from other Congressional Districts throughout the country. The first place winner will also win a trip to Washington DC to attend a ceremony celebrating all of the competition winners. The runners-up will have their work displayed in Congressman Hall’s District Offices in Carmel and Goshen.  Artwork submitted for the competition will remain on display at HVCCA through June 17, 2010.

Thursday, May 20

Third Thursday Series

7PM – Film – “Earth Days” – Witness the dawn and development of the modern environmental movement. Q&A with filmmaker Robert Stone.

Robert Stone’s documentary looks back to the dawn and development of the modern environmental movement.  From its post-war rustlings in the 1950s and the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s incendiary bestseller “Silent Spring”, to the first wildly successful 1970 Earth Day celebration and the subsequent firestorm of political action. Earth Days’ secret weapon is a one-two punch of personal testimony and rare archival media.

Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries at CEIE, 199 Dennings Ave., Beacon, NY. Mike Heintzman, mheintzman@bire.org  Free Registration at www.bire.org/events

Saturday, May 22

Putnam County Land Trust Volunteer Work Party

9:30AM – 12:30PM – Work parties are now being organized for trail maintenance and clean up on preserves of the Putnam County Land Trust. Groups will be formed and work each month on a designated preserve.  No prior experience is necessary. A good attitude and a willingness to pitch in are essential. The first work party will be held at the Field Farmstead Preserve on Fields Lane in Brewster on Saturday, May 22nd from 9:30 to 12:30. Work detail will include removal of debris, posting of border signs, creating about 200 feet of new trail and removal of invasive plants such as multi-flora rose and barberry. Water, work gloves, jeans and work or hiking boots are suggested. Tools such as shovels, clippers, rakes and loppers if available would be helpful.  If not tools will be provided. Come have fun with a like minded group of individuals in the out-of-doors while helping maintain trails for the public. To learn more or to sign up, please contact Judy Terlizzi at 845 228 4520, Bob Lund at 845 279 3122 or visit the website at www.pclt.net.

Spring Art Exhibit

1PM – 5PM – Opening Reception Over 45 artists including Wendy Alvarez , Pallas Athene Niver, Dianne Bibault, Rhonda Birmele, Patricia Bolgosano, Maria Calegari, Chris Casaburi, Bill Cody, Bart Cook, George Davison, Jeanne Demotses, Anita Eddy, Eric Ficinus, Eleanor Haggerty, Geneva Hamilton, Kate Hoekstra, Bruce Iacono, Mike Keropian, Kat LaRanger, Kate & Ray LaRanger, Deborah Lecce, Don Longabucco, Tori Lucas, Jessica McMath, Lisa Marie Meinck, Jerry Michalak, Eugenia Mierisch, Thom Murphy, Amanda O’Shaughnessy, Ekaterina Piskareva, Joe Pizzuti, Bob Rogers, Jackie Scelia, Rena Scelia, Mary Schreiber, Erinn Shaw, Thel Simon, Greg Solanto, Justo Soza, Jerry Spette, Marcela Szwarc, Mary Ann Taormina, Herberto Turizzo Anaya and Roy Volpe will display new works in this annual spring art exhibit. The Friends of Kent Library will sponsor a hand-selected Arts Book Sale of both bargains and collector items during the Opening Weekend of the Exhibit. Free Admission. Contact: Arts on the Lake

Saturday, May 29

Kent Library Giant Book Sale

What? It’s time to get ready for the Kent Library Giant Book Sale! We need volunteers for all phases of the sale – set up, staffing sale, take down, publicity, etc. If you are able to help us, please contact Kaye Baum at (845) 225-3942 or Rich Harrison at rjamesharrison@cs.com. We are now accepting books/audios/cds/DVDs for the sale. The books should be in good condition, smoke free, and unsoiled. Please no textbooks, Reader’s Digest, or outdated encyclopedias. Thank you in advance for your willingness to support the sale. Many hands make the work light. Let’s all work to create a great success!

Wednesday, June 2

Smart Management for Small Communities:  Practical Resources for Local Governance

8:30 am – 6:00 pm – Hosted by:  Environmental Finance Center-Syracuse University, serving Region 2 of the Environmental Protection Agency, and co-sponsored with the NYS Water Resources Institute.   As a part of the Environmental Finance Center’s Public Management Finance Program (PMFP) series, this event will focus on the needs of municipal leaders and provide technical assistance, funding updates, and practical skill-building sessions. Who should attend?  Elected officials, wastewater, drinking water and solid waste systems operators, and all interested parties.  Every attendee will hear from state and federal agency representatives on funding updates and opportunities, and concurrent break-out sessions including asset management, alternative strategies in drinking water management, wastewater management, and solid waste management.  Keynote presentation by Ed Clerico, Principal of Alliance Environmental.   The event promises to be educational, functional, practical, and thought-provoking.  For more details, see attached workshop announcement PDF. Fee is $75.  Register online at:  www.efc.syracusecoe.org. Registration deadline:  May 10, 2010. Location:  Bear Mountain Conference Center

Thursday, June 3

Fox Tales

An Evening of One Act Plays written by Gabrielle Fox, directed by Patterson’s Tony Howarth. A Gabrielle Fox production benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Winfluence, The Graveyard Shift and Good Friday.

Three new one-act plays explore relationships between opposites. Two office assistants in a shared space, a drag queen and a red neck in a cemetery, a down and out woman and a biblical theme park character all struggle to overcome their differences, whether they want to or not. Purchase tickets here.

Cast: Jess Erick, Margie Ferris, Fidel Fonteboa, Donna James, Stephen Medwid and Fred Rueck.

Running time: 60 minutes, no intermission. Venue: The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street
Performance dates: Thurs 6/3 @ 9pm, Sat 6/5 @ 12pm, Sun 6/6 @3:30pm, Thurs 6/10 @ 7:30pm, Mon 6/14 @ 8pm, Sun 6/20 @ 1pm.

Friday, June 11

Fund Raiser for Mike Kaplowitz

7:30 PM Come out and support Mike Kaplowitz as he works to be the next State Senator from the 40th District. At a private home in Putnam Valley. Write for more information.

Sunday, June 13

Strawberry Festival

Noon- 5PM – Hosted by the Beacon Sloop Club

Thirty-Seven people have voted in our poll regarding your choice for the next representative from NY’s 40th Senate District and not a single vote has come in from Amsterdam or Vladivostok!

As of this writing Westchester County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz is in the lead with 51% followed by Southeast’s Jim Borkowski at 27%. Somers Supervisor and Leibell picked heir apparent Mary Beth Murphy and part-time Assemblyman Greg “Lock and Load!” Ball are running in a dead heat for last place with 11% each. We’ll leave it up over the weekend for you late comers to vote!

Congressman John Hall’s office has announced the awarding of a $189,525 Federal grant for the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department for the purchase of safety equipment.

Another bill the Congressman has cosponsored, HR5019, is the “Home Star Energy Retrofit Act. The bill creates two tracks of Federal rebates for home weatherization and energy upgrades. One, a Silver Star that includes duct sealing, insulation, new doors and whatnot to the tune of $3000 in rebates and a Gold program which includes a full energy audit and the renovations required to meet the goals of the audit to $8000.

While you’re on the outside you might take on a little geocaching, one of the fastest growing activities that virtually anyone can participate in.

All you need is either a handheld GPS unit (your car’s navigator will often work) and the ability to follow directions. Here’s an example: N 41° 26.824 W 073° 39.212 The location points to (this is a hint) spot at Ryan’s Field in Lake Carmel where if you’ve been studious you’ll find an ammo can hidden by a local cub scout pack. Here’s another: N 41° 27.415 W 073° 43.582 This one brings you into the Mt. Nimham MUA and is a lot harder to find. If you do get there you’ll be looking for a tupperware container with various goodies in it. It’s traditional to take something from the box and replace it with a trinket of your own, sign the logbook and put things back where you found them. Point your browser here for more… and there’s a lot more!

Putnam Deputy Barbara Dunn is finally in court, three years after charges were leveled against her for a variety of legal issues most of which will be resolved over the next few days. The NYJN reported this morning that an FBI expert had trouble identifying the date and time some digital images were taken, images that are important to the case. The problem was, according to agent Amanda Broyles, that the batteries in the (3) cameras used by Sheriff’s road patrols were either missing or dead and thus the time/date stamps on the images were inaccurate making it impossible to verify their provenance.

Now, I’m not one to go around carelessly tossing accusations at people but it seems to this untrained eye that when equipment the police use for the gathering of evidence is “missing or dead” that there are much deeper problems within the department than a deputy using her position for personal reasons. It could suggest that if you’ve been involved with a case where the department used digital images that the images may not be all that legally valid. Without that imprinted time and date stamp there’s no telling if the image was taken at the actual scene or at some other time. If images such as those have been used in the past as evidence against you that “evidence” may no longer be “evidence”. Someone ought to look in to this a bit more closely.

She is clearly the stupidest women we’ve ever allowed in front of a microphone.

• Friday, May 7th
  • Rock Out With Mike Latini and Class Action
• Saturday, May 8
  • Container Gardening
  • Work on the Teatown-Kitchawan Trail Project
  • Maggie Seligman
  • Michelle LeBlanc Jazz Duo
  • Westchester Symphonic Winds
• Sunday, May 9 – Mother’s Day
  • Hike the Timp-Torne Trail
  • Hike the Mohonk Pavilion and Guyot Hill
  • Hike Stone Crop Gardens
  • Vigil to Save Stony Kill Farm
• Into the Future
  • Tuesday, May 11
    • Kayaking: How to get Started
  • Friday, May 14
    • “An Evening In the River with Chris Bowser”
  • Thursday, May 13
    • HRWA Mid-Hudson Omelette Series:  Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Hudson River
    • The Catskill Creek Watershed in History and Prehistory
    • Climate Change Action Planning – A Workshop for Municipal Officials
    • Watershed and Biodiversity Mapping at a County Scale:
  • Saturday, May 15
    • Spring Canoe Trips in the Great Swamp
    • Master Gardeners’ 2010 Plant Sale
    • Catskill’s Shelter Caretaking Workshop
  • Saturday, May 22
    • Putnam County Land Trust Volunteer Work Party
  • Wednesday, June 2
    • Smart Management for Small Communities:  Practical Resources for Local Governance
  • Sunday, June 13
    • Strawberry Festival

Friday, May 7th

Rock Out With Mike Latini and Class Action

8PM – at the Yorktown Elks Club. To quote the lovely Adrienne Cusano: “Rock The Town Purple!” a Relay for Life event, May 7th, with Class Action (classic rock band) at 8 pm at the Yorktown Elks, Waverly Place, Yorktown Hgts. Admission $20 includes light snacks. Cash bar, 50/50 and other raffle prizes. Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life of Yorktown. (21 and older please!)

Saturday, May 8

Container Gardening

10AM – 11:30AM – No room for a garden?  No problem!  Master Gardener Jen Stengle will show you how you can grow herbs, vegetables and flowers in very small spaces.  Cost:  $15.  To register: education@commongroundfarm.org or www.commongroundfarm.org.  Common Ground Farm is located at the “slated to be closed” Stony Kill Farm on Route 9D on the Beacon/Wappingers’ border.

Work on the Teatown-Kitchawan Trail Project

The NY/NJ Trail Conference and Teatown Lake Reservation will begin construction of the TEATOWN-KITCHAWAN TRAIL in the spring of 2010. This five-mile pathway will connect Westchester County’s Kitchawan Preserve to Teatown. It will be significant in its being one of few trails in the area that runs east-west, rather than north-south. Also, the trail will cross some little-visited DEP (Dept. of Environmental Protection) watershed lands that provide magnificent vistas of the Hudson Hills and Highlands. The program is led by Leigh Draper, the Trail Conference’s East Hudson Regional Representative, who maintains an office at Teatown. Contact: Leigh Draper [Draper@nynjtc.org] for information regarding start time and location.

Maggie Seligman

11AM – Noon. With Martin Aronchick at the North Salem Library Fair. Ruth Keeler Memorial Library 276 Titicus Road, North Salem, NY. Maggie will be singing jazz standards and a few other songs with the accompaniment of the excellent jazz guitarist Martin Aronchick, who asked me to join him for this gig.  I’m flattered–it will be a lot of fun!

Michelle LeBlanc Jazz Duo

7:30 PM – Featuring jazz guitarist Steve Lamattina. At the Hudson House River Inn, 2 Main Street in Cold Spring. (845) 265-9355. The historic Hudson House Inn has world class food and offers elegant lodging overlooking the Hudson River and Storm King Mountain. Cold Spring is a charming getaway destination with wonderful river views, shops and antiques. Cold Spring’s Metro North train stop is only minutes away. www.hudsonhouseinn.com. Visit Michelle at www.michelleleblanc.com

Westchester Symphonic Winds

8PM – The Westchester Symphonic Winds continues its 22st season with its new conductor Mr. Curt Ebersole in its Spring Concert at the Tarrytown Music Hall. Curt Ebersole, conductor/music director. This volunteer adult community wind ensemble, now in its 22nd year, provides opportunities for players and audiences alike to enjoy the finest music for winds/percussion by award-winning composers, along with the area’s finest soloists. All season long we are celebrating the most popular works of John Barnes Chance, with two works by this award-winning composer on each program. Featured works for this concert include “Overture to Candide” by Leonard Bernstein, Elegy and Symphony No. 2 by John Barnes Chance, and Casy at the Bat by Randol Alan Bass, with narration by Tom Morehouse. Ticket prices: $13 for seniors & students, $18 for adults, children under 10 are free. Tickets.

Sunday, May 9 – Mother’s Day

Hike the Timp-Torne Trail

8:30 AM Harriman-Bear Mountain State Park, NY. Leader: Shizuko Okumura, 718-997-6186. Meet: 8:30am at Port Authority Bus Terminal for 8:45 Short Line bus to Jones Point (one-way). Moderately strenuous hike on entire TT, from Jones Point to Ft. Montgomery, including climbs to the Timp, West Mtn., and Popolopen Torne. Return by bus or by train from Manitou.

Hike the Mohonk Pavilion and Guyot Hill

9AM – Mohonk Preserve, NY. Leader: Brian Sullivan, 845-594-9545; call before 9pm. Meet: 9am at Spring Farm parking area, New Paltz, NY. 10 difficult miles at a moderate pace.

Hike Stone Crop Gardens

10:30 AM – On Route 301just before the turnoff for Dennytown Road. No Pets. Sorry. Leader: Sayi Nulu 845-264-2270 Enjoy spring blooms in this hilltop garden which has a variety of landscapes and an interesting greenhouse. Spend 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on pace. $5.00 entrance fee per person. Photos and directions www.stonecrop.org/index_cal_view.php

Vigil to Save Stony Kill Farm

Noon – This vigil will be held weekly until the NYSDEC comes to their senses. Meet at the north entrance (just above Red Schoolhouse Road) on Route 9D in Fishkill/Wappingers at Noon. For further information: call Chris Ruhe (845) 931-7567

Into the Future

Tuesday, May 11

Kayaking: How to get Started

6:30 p.m. At the Grinnel Library, Wappingers Falls.  Always wanted to try kayaking but don’t know how to get started? We’ll tell you how to get started, what gear you’ll need, where to go paddling, where to meet other paddlers and where to get instruction on your technique.  General Public is welcome. For more information contact Don Urmston: Durmston@hvc.rr.com or 845-457-4552 (before 9pm)

Thursday, May 13

HRWA Mid-Hudson Omelette Series:  Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Hudson River

8 AM – Featured Speaker:  Dr. Stuart Findlay, Aquatic Scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
The submerged vegetation growing in the Hudson River is a very valuable habitat for fishes and small animals and also provides dissolved oxygen to the water passing by.  Our knowledge of where these plant beds are and how frequently they expand and contract is derived from a set of aerial photography surveys and detailed observations by volunteers kayakers.  These volunteers receive training in use of GPS to navigate to certain coordinates where they carry out a standard set of field measurements.  Information from the volunteers has revealed facts we could not obtain in any other way.  Dr. Findlay will discuss some examples of what we’ve learned and show how this effort contributes to the overall project.   See attached PDF.  Please note: there is a $4 minimum purchase.  If you plan to attend, please contact Katy Dunlap, katy@hudsonwatershed.org . Location:  Plaza Diner (Stop & Shop Plaza), New Paltz, NY

The Catskill Creek Watershed in History and Prehistory

7PM – A talk by author and educator Vernon Benjamin. One of the most important avenues of movement in prehistory in the Hudson River Valley, the Catskill Creek watershed was the principal route used by Native Americans from central Iroquoia to access the central Hudson Valley and points east to the shores of Long Island Sound. Its proximity to West Athens Hill dates its likely use by ancient Americans to the Paleo-Indian period 10,000 years ago.  During the historic period (1609 forward), the watershed provided a route for moving pioneers westward into the Mohawk Valley and beyond while providing the water power needed to run grist, saw and other mills established by settlers along the stream. Vernon Benjamin will point out some of the highlights of this history and ways in which modern man has emulated ancient man in utilizing the watershed for contemporary needs.   Cost: $5 per person.  For more information contact Liz LoGiudice (518) 622-9820 eml37@cornell.edu. Location: Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Agroforestry Resource Center, 6055 NYS Route 23, Acra, NY

Climate Change Action Planning – A Workshop for Municipal Officials

The NYS Bar Association Environmental Law Section’s Committee on Global Climate Change and the Municipal Law Section’s Committee on Land Use and Environment, and Committee on Green Development, invite municipal officials to a joint program on climate change action planning.   Program Co-Sponsors:  Association of Towns of the State of New York; Capital District Regional Planning Commission; Edwin G. Michaelian Municipal Law Resource Center, Pace University Energy and Climate Change Center, Pace Law School; Government Law Center, Albany Law School; Land Use Law Center, Pace Law School; New York State Association of Counties; New York State Conference of Mayors.   For details on the program and to view/download registration information, go to: www.nysba.org/EnviMuniMay2010 . For further information, contact Kathy Plog – kplog@nysba.org Location:  Government Law Center, Albany Law School

Watershed and Biodiversity Mapping at a County Scale:

Defining Greenspace for Centers and Greenspaces Planning [Dutchess County Planning Federation - 2010 Short Course]

5:30PM – The Dutchess County Planning Department has created new geographic data layers that can be used to define priority greenspaces, assist in preservation efforts and lead to a better understanding of the ability of land to support different uses.  Robert Wills, Senior GIS Project Coordinator with the Dutchess County Department of Planning & Development will describe the newest County data layers: Stream Catchment Areas, and Contiguous Biodiversity Blocks.  He will describe how they were created, their characteristics, how the County Planning Department is using them, what planning implications there may be for municipalities, and ideas for public access to the layers.

Participants will develop an understanding of how the data was created, its accuracy, and what can be done with it in the context of planning activities. Credit Information:  This course may qualify for 2.0 hours toward meeting the New York State mandatory training requirement for local planning and zoning board officials. Letters certifying course attendance will be available the evening of the event.  There is a $5.00 fee for this session payable at the door or by voucher to: Dutchess County Planning Federation. To register: see http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Planning/shortcourse.asp Location:  Dutchess County Farm and Home Center, 2715 Route 44, Millbrook

Friday, May 14

“An Evening In the River with Chris Bowser”

6:30PM – An evening of seining for fish, data collection, and discussion of what makes the Hudson River such a valuable resource and important habitat to so many kinds of life, especially humankind. A perspective from IN the river. At the Long dock in Beacon, Free. (845) 476-6674, (845) 542-0721,  www.beaconsloopclub.org

Saturday, May 15

Spring Canoe Trips in the Great Swamp

Departures scheduled for: 8:15 AM, 10:15 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM – Repeated tomorrow, Sunday, May 16th.

Each year Friends of the Great Swamp leads canoe trips on the East Branch Croton River into one of the largest wetlands in New York State. Join us on one of these enjoyable adventures into the Great swamp and experience this beautiful and valuable resource for yourself. As we enter this magical wilderness we will explore the biodiversity and learn more about the values of this nationally significant wetland. The Swamp provides critical habitat for aquatic species as well as for migrating and breeding birds. We have seen Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Prothonotary Warblers and Common yellowthroats as well as Wood Duck, Mallards and many, many more. There are Turtles, Dragonflies, some fantastic plants and possibly catch a glimpse of a mink or a muskrat.

Explore the Swamp with FrOGS. Meet us at the Green Chimney’s Beach on Doansburg Road (formerly Putnam Lake Road) of Rte 22. FrOGS members will guide each trip and point out the birds and plants as we canoe.

All levels of paddlers are welcome. We will provide canoes, paddles, Life jackets (bring your won if you wish) and a licensed Lifeguard. We suggest you bring bottled water, sunglasses and layered clothing to accommodate temperature changes. We will canoe rain or shine. In extreme conditions, we ask that you call for cancellation and rescheduling information.

Reservations are a must and space is limited so get your reservations early! For information and reservations contact:

Laurie Wallace at (845-279-8858) or Laurwally@aol.com subject: Canoe Trip

$22.00 Adult Member, $11.00 Child (6 to 14 years)
$26.00 Adult Non-member, $16.00 Child (6 to 14 years)

Master Gardeners’ 2010 Plant Sale

8:30 am to 12:30 pm at Tilly Foster Farm on Route 312, Brewster.The sale starts at 8:30 and those of you who have been there before know that getting there early is a must! We’ll have tomatoes by the hundred, perennials from the Master Gardeners’ own gardens, herbs and annuals grown locally just for us, and a new gift and tool tent. It’s time to get out there and grow something!

Catskill’s Shelter Caretaking Workshop

10am – Come and join Douglas Senterman, the Catskill Lean-to Supervisor, for a shelter caretaking workshop.  No previous experience is necessary and beginners are welcome.  This one-day training session will cover the skills necessary to maintain a shelter (lean-to) so that it is ready for use by campers and is harmonious to its surroundings.  Students will learn how to do an assessment of the overall shelter condition, cleaning and clearing the area, the proper use of tools and how to report the shelters condition.  The workshop will take place at actual lean-tos so you will get hands-on experience.

Wear your hiking boots; pack plenty of water and a lunch.

The workshop will take place at Elm Ridge Lean-to off of the escarpment trail.  We will be walking up the Elm Ridge Trail (yellow) approximately 1 mile to the lean-to on an easy hike.  The parking area is located about 1.8 miles north of Maplecrest.  We will be meeting there at 10am and will walk into the lean-to as a group.
Directions to parking area: From Rt. 23 in Windham turn onto State Rt. 296 towards Hunter, when Rt. 296 makes a hard right in Hensonville continue straight on to Maplecrest Road (County Rt. 40). At stop sign turn Right to stay on Maplecrest Road (County Rt.40).  At stop sign (in Hamlet of Maplecrest) turn Left onto Big Hollow Road (County Rt. 56).  Turn Left onto Peck Road and follow until the end where the parking area is located.  (For those with GPS or who would like to use MapQuest, an address you can enter is 197 Peck Road, Maplecrest, NY 12454-5023 – that will get you near the end of Peck Road, just continue up to the end)

For those who are interested we will continue our workshop at Batavia Kill Lean-to.  After completing instruction at Elm Ridge Lean-to we will return to our vehicles and take short drive up Big Hollow Road (County Rt. 56) to the next parking area.  We will walk into the Batavia Kill Lean-to on the Black Dome Range Trail (red) and then the Batavia Kill Trail (yellow).  This trip is also approximately 1 mile and is an easy to moderate hike.  This second lean-to is optional; however it will be an opportunity to see another shelter in a different condition and will allow you to put your newly learned skills to the test with more hands-on experience.

Directions to parking area: From the Elm Ridge Trail parking, go out to the end of Peck Road and make a Left onto Big Hollow Road (County Rt. 56) and follow until the end where the parking lot is located.

Please contact Laurie Rankin to sign up for one of these dates: laurierankin@hvc.rr.com (preferred) or by phone at 845-926-2182.

Saturday, May 22

Putnam County Land Trust Volunteer Work Party

9:30AM – 12:30PM – Work parties are now being organized for trail maintenance and clean up on preserves of the Putnam County Land Trust. Groups will be formed and work each month on a designated preserve.  No prior experience is necessary. A good attitude and a willingness to pitch in are essential. The first work party will be held at the Field Farmstead Preserve on Fields Lane in Brewster on Saturday, May 22nd from 9:30 to 12:30. Work detail will include removal of debris, posting of border signs, creating about 200 feet of new trail and removal of invasive plants such as multi-flora rose and barberry. Water, work gloves, jeans and work or hiking boots are suggested. Tools such as shovels, clippers, rakes and loppers if available would be helpful.  If not tools will be provided. Come have fun with a like minded group of individuals in the out-of-doors while helping maintain trails for the public. To learn more or to sign up, please contact Judy Terlizzi at 845 228 4520, Bob Lund at 845 279 3122 or visit the website at www.pclt.net.

Wednesday, June 2

Smart Management for Small Communities:  Practical Resources for Local Governance

8:30 am – 6:00 pm – Hosted by:  Environmental Finance Center-Syracuse University, serving Region 2 of the Environmental Protection Agency, and co-sponsored with the NYS Water Resources Institute.   As a part of the Environmental Finance Center’s Public Management Finance Program (PMFP) series, this event will focus on the needs of municipal leaders and provide technical assistance, funding updates, and practical skill-building sessions. Who should attend?  Elected officials, wastewater, drinking water and solid waste systems operators, and all interested parties.  Every attendee will hear from state and federal agency representatives on funding updates and opportunities, and concurrent break-out sessions including asset management, alternative strategies in drinking water management, wastewater management, and solid waste management.  Keynote presentation by Ed Clerico, Principal of Alliance Environmental.   The event promises to be educational, functional, practical, and thought-provoking.  For more details, see attached workshop announcement PDF. Fee is $75.  Register online at:  www.efc.syracusecoe.org. Registration deadline:  May 10, 2010. Location:  Bear Mountain Conference Center

Sunday, June 13

Strawberry Festival

Noon- 5PM – Hosted by the Beacon Sloop Club

Good Monday Morning,

I’m looking for a washing machine. Second hand is fine. Surplus is even better.

It looks like the weather has finally settled into “seasonal” but the real kicker is that the hillsides and mountains around us are now covered in their soft, green, summer mantle and the lilacs are in early bloom and this rainy morning? Beautiful.

The hummingbird feeders are out and I got some necessary gardening done putting acorn squash, cantaloupes, broccoli and watermelons in and just hoping that we don’t have a repeat of last year’s May 20th(!) frost. Now I just have to find a way to stop the cat from pooping in all that nice, soft dirt.

There’s a new poll at the News That Matters/PlanPutnam website. This one is about your choice for the 40th Senate District. Check it out! It’s over there on the left. And I’d like to thank the hackers who delivered 100 illegal votes to Senator Leibell in our last poll for keeping the site busy enough to move me up in the Google rankings. You are blessed!

Early yesterday morning you said, “Terrorists who want to take our freedoms away from us focus on the symbol of those freedoms, and that’s New York City.” Mr. Mayor, the only terrorists who can take away our freedoms are ourselves. Osama bin Laden didn’t shred the US Constitution or write the USA PATRIOT Act, we did that all on our own. In the future, please cut the hyperbole and stay focused.
Thanks.

If you’re a member of the Right To Life Party there’s a convention of sorts this evening at the Winery at St. George in Mohegan Lake at 7PM to discuss endorsements for candidates in the 99th Assembly district race. Anyone wanna place bet on who gets it?

Tuesday [tomorrow] night Dianne Olsen of Cornell Cooperative Extension Services will talk a bit about lake management issues at 7PM at the Kent Town Center on Route 52 in that fair, but overtaxed and politically unstable burg. Politically unstable? Oh yeah… this year promises one hell of a Supervisor’s race and the council races should be a major blowout. The forces of evil are gathered and preparing to unleash the Orcs of Mordor. If they win (and my loss last year gave them one seat on the board) we’re back to the good old days when the byword was “infighting”. Brutal infighting.

County Legislator Tony “the plague” Hay is considering a run for Southeast Supervisor.

Brewster village police handed out over 1000 tickets during the first three months of this year. That’s one heck of a way to make the place inviting for visitors… assure that they’ll spend money – one way or another.

Does anyone know if the county is still paying the electricity bill at Tilly Foster Farm?

The Fishkill Creek Watershed Association (some of that is in Putnam County, mind you) is meeting this evening at the East Fishkill Public Library at 7PM. The work they’ve done over the past several years with no budget and by volunteer hands has been stellar.

“The new courthouse will double the size of the current courtroom as well as add additional storage space for records management. Griffin predicted the new courthouse would “solve our judicial space needs from now until eternity. One of the major attributes my administration has accomplished over the past 16 years is to upgrade our town facilities. We will never need another town hall or justice center. Except for an upgrade or two at the highway department, Patterson is pretty well set for the next 50 years.”

Unless the Supervisor has information regarding the implosion of the known universe within 50 years, there’s something rather confusing between the terms, “from now until eternity” and “for the next 50 years” and “never.”  If you’re a Patterson resident I’d say it’s pretty important to get a definitive clarification.

In the same article, Patterson Town Judge John King says the town has brought in $140,000 in traffic fines last year which tells me that towns use their courts not as a system of justice but as a revenue generating machine. If the courts were there for the former reason I would have expected to hear Justice King say something about making the town safer, the income not being important, but a by-product.

I’ll take only half the salary, replace the CE’s black, gas sucking tank with a hybrid and move all county vehicles towards that mark, plant 40 acres of rapeseed for biodiesel for the county trucking fleet at Tilly Foster, extend our Domestic Partnership registry and broaden the septic repair program and that’s just for starters.

According to Bazzo’s blogsite, an internal poll taken for Greg Ball shows that 75% of registered Republicans believe the part-time Assemblyman and full-time demagogue can walk on water, 92% believe that he can feed the multitudes with a single Snicker’s bar, and 61% firmly believe that he can jump tall buildings in a single bound. In the meantime, while taking some time off from curing cancer and solving the Israel/Palestine problem he’s begging the state GOP to toss some money his way but I’m willing to bet Senator Leibell’s hand-picked successor, Mary Beth Murphy, will end up with the cash instead.

Most counties now have a GIS map online showing real property information within their jurisdiction and Putnam does as well, called e-Parcel. But the damned thing never really works. For one, if you’re not using Internet Explorer (and those of us who don’t want viruses creeping into our computers generally do not,) it won’t work at all. Moreover, once you do find the property you’re looking for and you call up the GIS map the icon spins and spins and spins and spins and …. Contrast that to Dutchess County’s excellent system or Washington County, NY or… and the list is as endless as the spinning icon that never brings up the map in our e-Parcel system. For a county with a budget of more than $130,000,000 and chock full of high tech workers you’d think we’d have something that works.

• National Guard to build vehicle maintenance facility on surplus Green Haven land
• DEP Plans to Open 12,000 More Watershed Acres for Recreation
• Legislators want drilling rules fairly crafted
• Die-off from fungus grows
• Who Knew Bankruptcy Paid So Well?
• Bank Of America Alerts Customer To ATM Fraud, Then Decides She Did It Herself
• What If the Tea Party Were Black?

National Guard to build vehicle maintenance facility on surplus Green Haven land

STORMVILLE – The New York Army National Guard is acquiring the former Green Haven Correctional Facility farmland for construction of a $33 million vehicle maintenance facility to supplement the facilities at Camp Smith in the Town of Cortlandt near Peekskill.

Prisons spokesman Erik Kriss said the 100,000 square foot facility will be built with federal funds.

“The farmland at Green Haven that we no longer have a use for, is close to interstate highway and turned out to be a good spot from DMNA’s (Division of Military and Naval Affairs’) for the construction of a vehicle maintenance where they will have a maintenance facility for wheeled Army and New York army National Guard vehicles,” he said.

The operation will join similar ones at Fort Drum, Rochester and Staten Island. No ammunition will be stored at Green Haven.

Some 150 to 200 construction jobs are anticipated along with 75 to 100 permanent jobs.

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DEP Plans to Open 12,000 More Watershed Acres for Recreation

Turkey Hunting Season on City-Owned Lands [Opened] on Saturday

Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway today announced that DEP plans to open 12,000 more acres for recreation throughout the rest of the year on a rolling basis. The announcement comes just ahead of the opening of turkey season on Saturday, May 1. The planned expansion will bring the total number of acres of New York City-owned water supply land open for recreation to 71,000, more than double the amount available in 2003. The 71,000 acres includes approximately 30,000 acres of property designated Public Access Areas which were opened in the last three years, where public hiking, fishing, hunting and trapping is allowed without DEP permits. The remaining acres require a DEP permit for access.

“The planned opening of 12,000 acres of watershed lands for recreation is another example of our efforts to expand the opportunities for families and visitors to enjoy themselves on watershed lands,” said Commissioner Holloway.  “Being a landowner carries with it the responsibility to work with our upstate partners to help the economy through recreation and tourism. We can do this while vigilantly protecting the water supply system for half of New York State, roughly nine million people.”

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Legislators want drilling rules fairly crafted

Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record

Even as new state standards make gas drilling in the New York City watershed nearly impossible, federal and state lawmakers are calling for tougher scrutiny of the horizontal drilling process called “fracking.” Sullivan County sits on the gas-rich Marcellus shale, but only a sliver of it is in the watershed, which will now have separate rules for drilling.

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, chairman of the Assembly’s Energy Committee, and Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, D-Ithaca, are preparing legislation that will require the same drilling regulations for all state watersheds, including the Delaware, which is in Sullivan. Critics of the proposed standards for the city say the Department of Environmental Conservation sold the rest of the state short by essentially saying drilling is too risky for city water, but OK for everyone else.

Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, D-Forestburgh, recently co-sponsored a bill calling for a moratorium on drilling at least until a federal study on the impact of “fracking” on drinking water is complete — in about two years.

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Wayne’s World: Bats need all the help we can give them

Die-off from fungus grows

By Wayne Hall
Times Herald-Record

The fungus attacking hibernating bats has gone from grim to catastrophic in Rosendale caves. And the rest of the state’s bat die-off report isn’t expected to be a whole lot better when it comes in soon, though there are a couple of faint glimmers.

It’s sort of a horror story that keeps on getting worse — like the 1958 movie, “The Blob,” about a mobile, vast jelly-like creature that devours a Pennsylvania town.

“In one Rosendale cave which hosted 11,000 little brown bats — there’s now about 20,” said state Department of Environmental Conservation bat expert Alan Hicks. Endangered Indiana bats in the cave took a big hit, too.

Losing little brown bats — the common small bats fluttering at dusk, snagging mosquitoes — would be similar to there being “no more robins, squirrels, or chipmunks in New York state,” according to Hicks.

Incredible fliers, bats use echolocation to form an aural map of their airspace — and they fly on 55-million-year-old airfoils made of the thinnest leather.

There is some good news.

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Who Knew Bankruptcy Paid So Well?

Bankruptcy Fees Add Up in Cases Like Lehman’s

The lawyers, accountants and restructuring experts overseeing the remains of Lehman Brothers have already racked up more than $730 million in fees and expenses, with no end in sight. Anyone wondering why total fees doled out in the Lehman bankruptcy alone could easily touch the $1 billion mark merely has to look at the bills buried among the blizzard of court documents filed in the case.

They’re a Baedeker to the continuing bankruptcy bonanza, a world where the meter is always running — sometimes literally: in the months after Lehman’s collapse in September 2008, the New York law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges paid one car-service company alone more than $500 a day as limo drivers cooled their heels waiting for meetings to break (and this in a city overflowing with taxis).

While most of corporate America may be just emerging from the Great Recession, bankruptcy specialists have spent the last two years enjoying an unprecedented boom. Ten of the 20 largest corporate bankruptcies in recent decades have occurred over the last three years, according to BankruptcyData.com, with Lehman snaring honors as the biggest corporate belly-flop in American history.

These megacases — Lehman, General Motors, Chrysler and Washington Mutual, to name a few — are orders of magnitude larger than most bankruptcies in the past, and their size and complexity have created a feeding frenzy of sorts for those asked to sort them out. To date, Weil, the lead law firm representing Lehman, has billed the Lehman estate for more than $164 million.

Analysts, lawyers and others involved in the larger bankruptcy boom say that some fees are legitimate — and that others are, at a minimum, highly questionable.

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Bank Of America Alerts Customer To ATM Fraud, Then Decides She Did It Herself

Consumerist reader Frank recently wrote to Bank of America — copying us — on behalf of his girlfriend. Seems that BofA was conscientious enough to not only notify her of suspicious activity on her debit card, but also to credit her account for the fraudulent ATM withdrawals… Only to take it all back a week later.

A couple weeks back, Frank’s girlfriend got a call from Bank of America to let her know they believed her debit card had been compromised following two suspicious withdrawals totaling $960.00 from BofA ATMs outside her immediate vicinity.

After verifying to the bank that she had not made the withdrawals and signing a document to that effect, she was told that everything was going to be okay and BofA credited her the $960.00.

Here’s Frank’s version of what happened next:

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What If the Tea Party Were Black?

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters descended on DC armed with AK-47s. Would they be defended as patriotic Americans?

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure – the ones who are driving the action – we’ll envision black folks or other people of color instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in America, at the end of the game, wins.

So let’s begin.

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