News Archive 2007

 

 

 

	Town Board Makes Appointments (12/24/07)
	Three Local Farms Gain Protection (12/24/07)
	State Archaeologist to speak on Town of Rochester’s Archaeological Heritage (12/24/07)
	Hole Appears in Safety Net (12/24/07)
	Community Comes to Caregiver’s Aid (12/24/07)
	Man arrested for growing pot, police say (12/24/07)
	Rochester woman a victim of identity theft (12/24/07)
	Thieves take Woman’s Walk.  (12/24/07)
	Where the Music Surrounds Him (12/24/07)

 

 

 

	Rochester Democrats Chili Dinner
	Election Day, November 6
	Special Voting Hours at Board of Election
	Local Accord Artists to Exhibit in Manhattan
	Stone Window Gallery Exhibit
	Inaugural Churches of the Valley Music Festival
	Preserving Your Land: An Ulster County Conference on Land Protection High Falls Resident Killed in Auto Accident
	Town Awarded Historic Preservation Grant
	Local Filmaker’s Production
	Rochester supervisor faces election challenge
	Rochester candidates square off for seats on Town Board, bench
	Letters

 

 

 

	Democratic Nominees for Town Offices (10/3/07)
	Republican Nominees for Town Offices (10/3/07)
	FRIENDS OF HISTORIC ROCHESTER HOSTS HERITAGE DAY 2007 (10/3/07)
	Town Board to Hold Public Hearing (10/3/07)
	Fire District to Hold Budget Hearing (10/3/07)
	Democrats to Hold Harvest Festival on October 13 (10/3/07)
	ANNUAL HOLIDAY PENNY SOCIAL   (10/3/07)
	The Small Farm and Rural Living Expo comes to New Paltz (10/3/07) A century of caring (10/3/07)
	1 up, 1 down in Rondout (10/3/07)
	Luxury no more- Daily Freeman Editorial (10/3/07)
	With an Upscale Spa, a Clash of Meanings for the Word 'Green' (10/3/07)
	Remember That Other Casino? (10/3/07)
	Scaled-down plan calls for 999 Sullivan homes (10/3/07)
	Zoning Questions Answered (10/3/07)
	Letters (10/3/07)

 

	New Blog Established for Town of Rochester Community (9/13/07)
	Friends of Historic Rochester Annual Meeting (9/13/07)
	Balloon Test This Weekend for Cellular Service Towers (9/13/07)
	Reflective House Address Markers (9/13/07)
	Message from Friends of Historic Rochester: Heritage Day 2007 (9/13/07)
	Saunderskill Farms (9/13/07)
	Rondout Central School District Capital Expenditures Vote – October 2, 2007 (9/13/07)
	Rochester Residents Association Community Scholarship Recipients Announced (9/13/07)
	Blaze destroys Accord home (9/13/07)
	Skate Time 209 Owners win National Award (9/13/07)
	22 boys found safe in Minnewaska State Park (9/13/07)
	Upcoming Political Events (9/13/07)

 

   

	Community Scholarship Program (7/29/07)
	Reflective House Address Markers (7/29/07)
	Twilight Concerts in the Park (7/29/07)
	Flea Market Featured a Saunderskill Farms (7/29/07)
	SKATE TIME 209 NOMINATED FOR R.S.A. ‘RINK OPERATOR OF THE YEAR’ (7/29/07) Swimming hole dispute deepens (7/29/07) Wawarsing Town Board clears way for condo project (7/29/07)
	Stone Ridge Orchard Development Plans (7/29/07)
	Gnome Chompsky at Kelder’s Farm Inducted into Guinnes Book for World Records (7/29/07)
	Heart attack killed swimmer at Mohonk (7/29/07)
	Ellenville Featured in New York Times (7/29/07)
	Help Wanted (7/29/07)

 

 

	Community Scholarship Program (7/4/07) Information Meetings on Draft Zoning Code Revisions (7/4/07)
	Special Advance Screening of Racing Daylight (7/4/07)
	Stone Window Gallery features Arlene Cohen (7/4/07)
	Accord Resident Rob Norris and Bongos release CD (7/4/07)
	Milford Ebert Passes (7/4/07)
	Rochester Environmental Conservation Commission Seeks New Members (7/4/07) Rochester Crash Injures 2 (7/4/07)
	Route 209 crash sends Kerhonkson woman to hospital, Cottekill woman to jail (7/4/07)
	Planning Board Chastised for Ignoring Law (7/4/07)
	Big Plans for Hudson Valley Resort (7/4/07)
	Drug sweep nets 17 suspects; two appeared in video with assault rifle  (7/4/07)
	Amended casino restriction exempts Wawarsing  (7/4/07)
	Schumer makes pitch for casino (7/4/07)
	Letters to the Editor (7/4/07)

 

   

 

	First Sunday Songwriters Circle with Peggy Atwood, Elise Pittelman, Mark Brown (6/1/07)
	THE ULSTER COUNTY RED CARPET TEAM is COMING TO ACCORD TOWN HALL (6/1/07) Skate-A-Thon for Neighbors in Need at Skate Time 209 (6/1/07) Rochester Reformed Church to hold Annual Beef and Berry Dinner (6/1/07)
	Annual Mohonk Garden Walk and Luncheon June 28 (6/1/07)
	Firefighters OK after stairway collapse; family homeless (6/1/07)
	Rochester sets June 7 hearing on proposed cell tower leases (6/1/07)
	Rondout Valley budget, at $56.79 million, would raise tax levy 3.67% (6/1/07)
	Couple seriously injured in Route 209 crash (6/1/07)
	Police: Man shot cat with arrow (6/1/07)
	Rekindling a lost art // Ulster County blacksmith explains his fiery passion (6/1/07) For or against casinos, communities want a say (6/1/07)

 

	School District Election and Budget Vote (5/7/08)
	Tax Reassessment and Grievance Day (5/7/08)
	Annual History Day – Saturday, May 12 (5/7/08)
	Firefighters OK after stairway collapse; family homeless (5/7/08)
	Group Hopes to Bring $10 million Indoor Pool Facility to Town (5/7/08)
	PTA treasurer charged with stealing $19,000 from group (5/7/08)
	Rochester officials consider need to remove fuel tanks (5/7/08)
	Rochester considers 30-year cell tower lease (5/7/08)
	Change in zoning law clears path for senior housing project in Kerhonkson (Wawarsing) (5/7/08) Minnewaska State Park Featured in New York Times (5/7/08)
	Letters to the Editor (5/7/08)

 

	Public Informational Meetings on Revisions to Town Subdivision Law (4/7/07)
	Earth Day Clean Up (4/7/07)
	ACCORD FIRE CO # 1 AUXILIARY LASAGNE DINNER (4/7/07)
	Mohonk Preserve gives gift to local residents (4/7/07)
	April 2007 Town Board Meeting Highlights (4/7/07)
	Garden Day 2007 Teaches Gardeners to be Fearless (4/7/07)
	Golfer Vijay Singh to Invest in Hudson Valley Resort? (4/7/07)
	Kingston men arrested in Rochester home invasion (4/7/07) Supervisor Duke’s State of the Town Report for the Year ended December 31, 2006.   (4/7/07)
	Public Notice (4/7/07)
	Upcoming Events (3/11/07)
	Ellenville plant closing will eliminate 262 jobs (3/11/07) Crash claims life of New Paltz man, 39 (3/11/07)
	Two Accord residents charged with endangering child (3/11/07)
	Car flips, Cragsmoor teenage driver half-ejected (3/11/07)
	Letters to the Editor (3/11/07)

 

 

	Kimberly Smithmeyer and Country Kids Daycare Featured in Blue Stone Press (2/18/07)
	Upcoming Events at Little Ones’ Learning Center (2/18/07)
	Disaster Readiness Seminar (2/18/07)
	Man Leaves Dog Tied up During Storm (2/18/07)
	Residents of mobile home park raise stink over sewage problem (2/18/07)
	Farmland, ho! Buyers are attracted to protected open spaces (2/18/07)
	Ruth Green West (2/18/07)
	Letters (2/18/07)
	Help Wanted (2/18/07)

 

	Kerhonkson Resident Kali Z. Fasteau to Perform at Cafe Chronogram (2/3/07)
	Upcoming Events Hosted by Rochester Democrats (2/3/07)
	Photographic Exhibition – Democratic Republic of the Congo (2/3/07)
	Accord Artist Sara Harris exhibits at Stone Window Gallery (2/3/07)
	A Community’s Kindness (2/3/07)
	Town Board Meeting Dissolves in Shouting Match (2/3/07)
	Could This be the Same Town? (2/3/07)
	Statement by Town Board (2/3/07)
	Man Charged with Possession of Pot, Gun (2/3/07)
	Diana’s Cats Featured in The Ulster County Press (2/3/07)
	Patty’s Angel’s Abuse Case is Appealed (2/3/07)

 

 

 

	Upcoming Events hosted by Rochester Democrats (1/14/07)
	Town Board Seeks Youth Commission Candidates (1/14/07)
	Rochester Veterans Memorial and Database (1/14/07)
	Note from the Assessor regarding Star Exemptions (1/14/07)
	Kerhonkson Farm Family cited in Spitzer Inauguration Speech  (1/14/07)
	3 Arrested in Connection with Robbery (1/14/07)
	Three local school districts must improve, state says (1/14/07)

 

 

Town Board makes Appointments

 

Town Councilman Alex Miller resigned from the Town Board on December 10, 2007.  The Town Board voted to appoint Accord resident Lynn Archer to fill the vacant position until a special election in November 2008.  Archer, the owner of Archer Fine Art and Framing in High Falls, is a former human resources executive and is active in many local arts and business organizations.  

 As Archer was a member of the Town’s Board of Assessment Review and prohibited from serving on both boards, Archer resigned from the Board of Assessment Review and was replaced on that board by Martha Tardibuono, a long time High Falls resident. 

At an earlier meeting, the Town Board appointed Robert Rominger and Don Dunn to the Town’s Planning Board to replace Steve Fornal and Robert Godwin as full member and alternate member, respectively.  Both Fornal and Godwin resigned.

Paul Shaheen, Esq. was appointed to the Town’s Ethics Board to replace Alan Bendelius.  Steven Rice was named to the Environmental Conservation Commission to replace Chris Hewitt.  Both Bendelius and Hewitt also resigned.

 

Three local farms gain protection

    
NEW YORK - The Open Space Institute has announced the expansion of its agricultural protection efforts, encompassing two farms in Ulster County and one in Orange County, as a result of new funding from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The state will provide 75 percent of the cost of conservation easements.

The funding comes from purchase of development rights grants. The institute will fund the remainder of the cost in conjunction with local partners.

Receiving easement funding are:

* Arrowhead Farm, Wawarsing and Rochester, Ulster County: After nearly 90 years as a commercial dairy, the 293-acre, third-generation family farm is being transformed into a diversified agricultural business that will include growing grains with a no-till method, raising goats for meat and chickens for eggs. Owners Peter and Philip Davis plan to build 10 to 15 small log cabins so visitors can experience a working farm. The cabins are being carefully placed in the woodlands, avoiding harm to soils and viewsheds from the Shawangunk Ridge. The
State awarded this project $1,070,175.  Total project costs will be $1,426,900.  The Town of Rochester sponsored the application in conjunction with the Ulster County Planning Department.

* Domino Farm, Rochester, Ulster County: The 127-acre farm owned by Eleanor and Margaret Anne DeWitt in Accord has been farmed continuously since 1955. The DeWitt family has a registered dairy herd that has a first-place ranking in New York for Jersey herds of its size in both protein and milk production in 2006. In addition to the dairy operation, the farm cultivates hundreds of acres of corn, alfalfa and grass. More than half of the property contains soils of statewide significance.   The farm has received New York’s “Super Milk” award for five consecutive years. This project was awarded  $693,900.  The Town of Rochester sponsored the Domino Farm application in conjunction with the Ulster County Planning Department.

Glen Haven Farm/ Greenwich Orchids International Inc., Crawford, Orange County: The 113-acre farm owned by Ted and Wendy Siegel sits atop an aquifer that is the main source of water for the town of Crawford, and the Siegels run their operation naturally, without the use of chemicals. The land also contains wetlands and prime soils and is in the viewshed of the Shawangunk Scenic Byway, the Mohonk Preserve and the Shawangunk and Schunnemunk mountains. This farm borders the DeVries Farm and is proximate to the Vellenga Farm, both protected by the Open Space Institute. This brings the total PDR/OSI-protected farmland in the town of Crawford to 356 acres.  (Freeman 10/23/07)

 

State Archaeologist to speak on Town of Rochester’s Archaeological Heritage on

January 21, 2008 at Museum in Accord

 

·         Is it true that the Town of Rochester has the most extensive archaeological resources in Ulster County?

·         What do these archaeological treasures consist of?

·         How does the presence of these archaeological sites affect land use and development?

Douglas Mackey, the Field Representative for Archaeology at the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will answer these questions in a special presentation sponsored by the Town of Rochester Historic Preservation Commission. The talk will take place on Monday, January 21 at 6:00 p.m. at the Museum of the Friends of Historic Rochester, which is a co-sponsor, along with the Rondout-Esopus Land Conservancy. The Museum is located at 12 Main Street, Accord.

Douglas Mackey has been working as an archaeologist for more than 25 years. He has been at the State Historic Preservation Office for ten years. Prior to that, he was an archaeologist for the SUNY Albany Highway Survey Program and at two private firms. Mackey teaches Native American Studies, Archaeology and Anthropology at Marist College and SUNY New Paltz. He is member of the Albany Historic Resource Commission and Vice President of the New York Archaeological Council.

Hole Appears in Safety Net

 

ACCORD - Faced with Leda Walsh's medical situation, most patients doubtless would have a lengthy list of needs.

Walsh, however, has only one simple request, making it all the more frustrating that no solutions seem to be near.

Undergoing intense chemotherapy for breast cancer, Walsh is preoccupied with the well-being of her four grandchildren, ages 2-6, of whom she has custody.

Walsh, 56, has had custody of the children for nearly two years, and helped them to overcome traumatic times in their past. But now, the disease and debilitating side effects of her treatment drain Walsh and make daily physical activities difficult.

When Patricia Thayer, who knew Walsh as an outstanding home health aide before she became ill, asked if she needed anything, Walsh replied that she was fine, but "could use some help in the mornings getting the kids out the door." If she could just get help for an hour or two on school day mornings to prepare the children for school, she'd be able handle her other issues.

Unfortunately, her need doesn't fit the parameters of the various social service providers and charitable organizations that Walsh and other friends have contacted.

Several representatives of agencies explained that, although sympathetic, their agencies have strict parameters for the types of services they could provide, and neither serving as a liaison for Walsh nor providing extra family support is included in their directives. There were a flurry of referrals, but none could handle the request head-on.

Walsh's dilemma illustrates how even a web of overlapping government and nonprofit service agency safety nets can have holes.

Thayer, a licensed practical nurse, said Walsh was the type of health aide who "always went above and beyond what was required" for her patients."

Thayer hoped that a newspaper might be able to mention Walsh's plight and request, but a modern problem arose. In 2007, even clergy responding to such a call would need to be screened. Some organization would need to handle calls and check references, or provide the service themselves, before Walsh could get the simple relief set up.

Several social service providers and charitable organizations were contacted. Virtually all offered assistance and encouragement in various modes, and Walsh has benefited in several ways from these same agencies in the past, from rent support to a mini-grant that enables her to have occasio