Brawl brewing between Greene County and governor

By Julia Reischel - 9/3/10 - 10:19 am

Governor David Paterson made good on his promise to appoint a new treasurer in Greene County yesterday, thereby overriding the treasurer that the Greene County legislature picked in July. The Daily Mail reports that both Paterson and county officials are preparing for a fight over whose treasurer gets to stay:

County Attorney Carol Stevens said Thursday that she intends to inform [state officials] Friday morning that the county does not recognize the New York State County Law that gives the Governor the authority to make the appointment trumps the county law that leaves that power to the county.

For his part, Paterson has sent the county a strongly-worded letter about his choice:   Read more

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This weekend: Painting dogs, olde-timey fun, wooden bobcats, and local farms

By Julia Reischel - 9/2/10 - 2:28 pm

Guess who painted this? Hint: She's not human.

The excrutiatingly fabulous among us already know what they're doing this weekend: they're attending All Tomorrow's Parties, the hipsterrific music festival at Kutsher's in Monticello this weekend. We've sent a correspondent, Barry Thompson, to tell us what happens when the cavalcade of flatlanders invades Sullivan County, so stay tuned for his dispatches.

For the rest of us, there's plenty to do this Labor Day weekend that doesn't involve Iggy Pop:

Tillamook Cheddar Gallery Opening

What's trippier than three dozen indie bands stuffed into a Borscht Belt hotel? Try watching a Jack Russell Terrier paint. Tillamook Cheddar is an 11-year-old dog from Brooklyn (where else?), who vents her artistic impulses on vellum-coated paper. She'll be demonstrating her painting technique live at a Kingston art gallery that is -- oh yes -- showing her work. The scenesters in Monticello won't know what they're missing.

5pm to 8pm Saturday, One Mile Gallery, Kingston, Ulster County.

Turn of the Century Day

1898 was a very good year. It saw the Spanish-American War, the creation of the five boroughs of New York City, the Dreyfus Affair, the annexation of Hawaii, and the invention of the meat-slicer. Bone up -- you'll need to know this kind of thing to pass convincingly as an upstanding citizen in Roxbury this Saturday. (A nicely-fitting corset would help, too.) Olde-timey treats galore are promised, including gigantic lollipops, roving acrobats, snake-oil salesmen, stilt-walkers, and a child's tea party to which teddy bears and dolls are cordially invited.

10am to dusk Saturday, Roxbury, Delaware County.

Catamount People's Museum Opening Celebration

It's unlikely that you've ever been to a museum ensconsed in the heart of a wooden bobcat. The bizarre and altogether intriguing art-project-cum-folklore-project has been rising on Bridge St. in the town of Catskill all summer, and this Saturday it's finally open to the public. 

Noon to 6pm Saturday, 21 West Bridge St., Catskill, Greene County.

Bovina Farm Day

Of course there's a Farm Day. What do you expect from a town named "Bovina?" Hay rides, history lessons, and lots of luscious local produce await you in bucolic Bovina this Sunday, as the town transforms itself into a horn of plenty celebrating Catskills bounty.

10am to 5pm Sunday, Bovina, Delaware County.

There's lots more to do in the Catskills this weekend. For more fun times, check out our calendar.

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All Tomorrow's Parties rocks the Catskills this weekend

By Lissa Harris - 9/2/10 - 12:26 pm

If you're one of the 2,000-odd partygoers headed for Kutsher's this weekend, we salute you. And if not, you had surely better have a good excuse. Indie music festival All Tomorrow's Parties, now in its third year, will be taking over the Monticello country club tomorrow through Sunday.

For music and pop-culture geeks of a certain persuasion, it's the high point of the year, a Cupid's arrow aimed straight at the heart of a small but ecstatically devoted demographic. And even if you're not, say, an experimental-synth-folk fetishist, we defy you not to enjoy the surreal experience of rubbing elbows with half the bands ever recorded by Steve Albini in the resort that inspired "Dirty Dancing." ATP is to moldering Borscht Belt grandeur as Woodstock is to mud.  Read more

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Baby monitor company sued for racketeering

By Julia Reischel - 9/2/10 - 11:25 am

Two companies that sell baby monitors are duking it out in court over the kinds of allegations usually associated with mobsters. Bainbridge-based BabySafe USA has been suing Pennsylvania-based Babysense in Chenango County court for months, charging that Babysense stole a shipment of 2,800 baby monitors and sold them off, thereby driving BabySafe out of business.  Read more

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Don't breathe too hard today

By Julia Reischel - 9/2/10 - 9:11 am

There's another air quality alert in effect for most of the state of New York:

AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 11 PM EDT THURSDAY... THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION HAS ISSUED AN AIR QUALITY HEALTH ADVISORY FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... DUTCHESS...ULSTER...COLUMBIA...GREENE...SCHOHARIE...ALBANY... RENSSELAER...SARATOGA...SCHENECTADY...WASHINGTON...FULTON... MONTGOMERY. AIR QUALITY LEVELS IN OUTDOOR AIR ARE PREDICTED TO BE GREATER THAN AN AIR QUALITY INDEX VALUE OF 100 FOR THE POLLUTANT OF OZONE. THE AIR QUALITY INDEX...OR AQI...WAS CREATED AS AN EASY WAY TO CORRELATE LEVELS OF DIFFERENT POLLUTANTS TO ONE SCALE. THE HIGHER THE AQI VALUE...THE GREATER THE HEALTH CONCERN. WHEN POLLUTION LEVELS ARE ELEVATED...THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RECOMMENDS THAT INDIVIDUALS CONSIDER LIMITING STRENUOUS OUTDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS. PEOPLE WHO MAY BE ESPECIALLY SENSITIVE TO THE EFFECTS OF ELEVATED LEVELS OF POLLUTANTS INCLUDE THE VERY YOUNG, AND THOSE WITH PRE-EXISTING RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS SUCH AS ASTHMA OR HEART DISEASE. THOSE WITH SYMPTOMS SHOULD CONSIDER CONSULTING THEIR PERSONAL PHYSICIAN. A TOLL FREE AIR QUALITY HOTLINE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED SO NEW YORK RESIDENTS CAN STAY INFORMED ON THE AIR QUALITY SITUATION. THE TOLL FREE NUMBER IS: 1 800 5 3 5, 1 3 4 5.

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Those mountains sure are purty

By Julia Reischel - 9/2/10 - 6:01 am

Especially, a vacationing city-dweller named Marinka writes, after a cocktail. (Photo via Marinka's Posterous account. She also blogs as Motherhood in NYC.)

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Village Voice food writer wowed by Catskills produce

By Julia Reischel - 9/1/10 - 7:57 pm

The Village Voice's food cirtic, Robert Sietsema, appears to have vacationed in the Catskills last week. He posted three blog entries under the header Upstate Journal, in which he waxes enthusiastic about Bread Alone Bakery in Boiceville and proves savvy about buying tomatoes during peak season in Schoharie County:

The farm stands put on a game face, and try to keep the price high by making little fixed-price displays of perfect fruit, while hiding boxes upon boxes under the counter, with discreet price tags announcing prices that amount to less than 50 cents a pound, often for fruit that is at the peak of ripeness. Thus it was that a friend and I bought an entire box of tomatoes, numbering more than 60, for the very modest price of $15.

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A critical eye for CockStock

By Julia Reischel - 9/1/10 - 1:45 pm

Linda Norris, a Treadwell consultant who advises museums on making their exhibits user-friendly and interactive, attended a homegrown Delaware County festival called CockStock a few weeks back. Amongst the singing and outdoor attractions staged in Bovina along Rte. 28, she saw several lessons in user interactivity for her clients:

Invite anyone to plan and participate

The event's Facebook page described it as a "celebration of art, information, and good company" and if you had something to share, you were invited to do so. Some artists brought their work and did a small installation in the barn where anyone could come in, look at the work and talk (and many people did) ...

Make Room for Creators and Appreciators

There were loads of creators at the event--musicians and others. There was space and time for all of them to share their work. But there was also time and space for those of us who aren't artists to enjoy and appreciate the work. The audience ranged in age from 4 to 70 plus--it really was for everyone.

Photos by Claire Gohorel and Drew Harty, Rooster painting by Anne Gohorel. Used with permission.

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On-again, off-again fracking hearing: On again

By Julia Reischel - 9/1/10 - 12:00 pm

Don't get your hopes up -- you've had your heart broken before. But this time it's different, the EPA says:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the last of the Hydraulic Fracturing Study Public Meetings for September 13 and 15, 2010, at the Broome County Forum Theater in Binghamton, New York.  EPA has added an additional meeting session and four meeting sessions will be held over September 13 and 15 (see table below for specific information).  All individuals who pre-registered for the August 12 meetings will retain their registration for the September 13 and 15 meetings. Because the timing of the sessions has changed from a one-day event to a two-day event and EPA has added another meeting session, EPA needs pre-registered individuals to specify the session they would like to attend.

At least the meeting is back in Binghamtom, rather than being moved to Syracuse.

Will you be attending? Drop us a line at editor@watershedpost.com.

(Hat tip to the THR.)

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Nudes in the clove!

By Julia Reischel - 9/1/10 - 11:00 am

According to the Daily Mail, an unnamed indie film shot a nude scene in a waterfall on Kaaterskill Creek recently. Anybody get a peek? 

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