This weekend: TAP Beer Fest at Hunter Mountain

By Anne Pyburn Craig
4/23/13 - 1:36 pm

Photo from TAP-NY website.

Fans of fine craft brewing won’t want to miss the ultimate celebration of the suds. TAP New York, taking place April 27 and 28 at Hunter Mountain, is the largest craft beer fest in New York. This year, the fest is bigger than ever, reflecting the renaissance in craft brewing currently underway in New York: Organizers have invited 87 breweries this year, 15 of them new to the local craft-beer scene.

Organizers promise “everything from pale ales and pilseners, to weisbiers, porters, stouts, and scotch ales; from hearty Bohemian and Bavarian-style lagers to glorious Belgian-style ales and much more.” Expect to learn plenty about brewing from these hands-on artisans, who will be bringing their best brews to compete for three prestigious awards.  Read more

Catskill men arrested for Durham burglary

By Lissa Harris
4/23/13 - 11:56 am

Two Catskill men who allegedly forced their way into a private home in Durham on Sunday have been arrested and charged with burglary.

After an investigation, New York State Police arrested 27-year-old Victor Iamunno and 26-year-old Angel Agosto and charged both with burglary in the first degree, according to an NYSP statement. Iamunno is also charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, and Agosto is charged with petit larceny.

Police say that during the break-in, the two physically assaulted the homeowner and took cash and other personal property.

Iamunno and Agosto were arraigned in the Town of Durham Court before Justice Raymond Kennedy, and remanded to the Greene County Jail without bail. Both are scheduled to reappear on Thursday, April 25 at 3pm in the Town of Durham Court.

Richie Havens, opening act at Woodstock, dies

By Lissa Harris
4/22/13 - 9:01 pm
See video

Above: Video of Richie Havens performing "Freedom" at Woodstock in 1969.

Folk legend Richie Havens, who was the opening act at the 1969 Woodstock festival, died on Monday of a heart attack in his home in Jersey City. He was 72. 

The Roots Agency, who represented Havens, announced the news of his death on their website.

In an obituary, Bloomberg News recounts the story of how Havens -- who was scheduled to play fifth on Woodstock's opening day -- was pressed into service as the festival's opening act:

Havens and two members of his band were pressed into urgent service as other musicians -- including the planned opening act, the folk-rock band Sweetwater -- fought traffic on the roads leading to Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Woodstock, New York.  Read more

Lexington turns 200

By Lissa Harris
4/22/13 - 12:48 pm

Above: A slideshow of photos from the Lexington Bicentennial Parade on April 20, 2013. All photos by Donna Cavanaugh. 

Happy birthday, Lexington: The Greene County town celebrated its 200th on Patriot's Day with a parade, a celebration of the town's founding families, and a few guest appearances straight from the 1800s. 

With a population of just over 800, the New York town of Lexington is a fraction of the size of its Massachusetts namesake, where the first shot of the Revolutionary War was famously fired. But Lexington, NY is just as proud of its Revolutionary roots.  Read more

Ulster County's most wanted

By Lissa Harris
4/22/13 - 12:10 pm

Over the weekend, the Ulster County Sheriff's Office released an updated list of their top ten most wanted fugitives from justice. 

The ten men on the list are wanted for a wide variety of alleged offenses: assault, larceny, welfare fraud, failing to register as a sex offender, failure to pay child support, and in one case, felony DWI.

Topping the list is 30-year-old Jahson Marryshow, who was indicted by an Ulster County grand jury in 2010 on felony charges of robbery, arson and grand larceny, for allegedly robbing the Bank of America in Woodstock and setting fire to a barn. 

One man on the list, 26-year-old Frankie Joseph, is currently incarcerated in the Lakeview Correctional Facility, a minimum-security prison in Chautauqua County. An officer at the Ulster County Sheriff's Office told the Watershed Post that Ulster County had only recently learned of Joseph's whereabouts.

The list:

1. Jahson A. Marryshow, 30, wanted for Robbery 1st (Bank of America, Woodstock), last known address of 26 Witchtree Road, Woodstock  Read more

Sullivan County cops find huge cache of burgled goods

By Lissa Harris
4/22/13 - 10:44 am

A tip on a burglary investigation has led Sullivan County police to a "treasure trove" of stolen items from multiple burglaries, the Times Herald-Record reports. 

On Thursday, sheriff's deputies arrested 59-year-old Abdool Persaud of Monticello, after a search of his Pine Street home turned up stolen guns, ATVs, tools, jewelry, prescription drugs and marijuana. Police believe they've made a major arrest, the paper reports:

"We've got a treasure trove of stolen goods," Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said. "This guy is probably one of the largest, if not the largest, fence in Sullivan County."

It's a twister!

By Lissa Harris
4/20/13 - 8:02 pm

Above: Tree limbs driven into the ground by the force of the tornado. Photo from National Weather Service in Binghamton; for more photos of damage in the tornado's path, see their Facebook album.

A tornado touched down near Bainbridge on Friday evening and traveled across the Chenango/Delaware County border before breaking up, the National Weather Service announced Saturday. 

According to a NWS statement, the tornado touched down at 7:53pm about 4 miles south-southeast of Bainbridge, on South Afton Road between I-88 and Highway 206, and traveled 3.2 miles to end up about 3 miles south of Sidney at 7:58pm.

At their maximum speed, winds in the tornado reached 110 miles per hour. The tornado cut a path 200 yards wide at its widest point. On the Enhanced Fujita scale for measuring the strength of tornadoes, which ranges from EF0 to EF5, this was an EF1.   Read more

Greene County man arrested for string of burglaries

By Lissa Harris
4/20/13 - 7:38 pm

A Climax man has been arrested after an investigation into a string of home burglaries that spanned three counties.

State police say that the suspect, 24-year-old Robert J. Giordano, was found on Friday driving a stolen vehicle on County Route 22 in the town of Durham and arrested. At the time of his arrest, police say, Giordano had numerous stolen items in his possession, including firearms, jewelry and electronics. 

Police say they have connected Giordano to a "burglary spree" that stretched across Greene, Albany and Schoharie Counties.

Giordano faces charges of first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, three counts of second-degree burglary, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, possession of burglar's tools, and second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia. Additional charges are expected, police say. 

Giordano was arraigned before Town of Catskill Justice William Wooton and remanded to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.  Read more

Thunderstorms across Catskills

By Lissa Harris
4/19/13 - 4:23 pm

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for Sullivan County, along with much of Pennsylvania, for Friday afternoon and evening. (Update, 9:30pm: The area is no longer under tornado watch.)

Sullivan County, along with the rest of the Catskills region, can expect thunderstorms, heavy rain, and gusting winds of up to 40 or 50 miles per hour as a cold front moves through the area from west to east. 

As of around 4pm, Hudson Valley Weather reported, the line of storms was moving through Western Pennsylvania. 

Update, 8:30pm: Delaware and Sullivan Counties are both under severe thunderstorm warnings until 9pm:  Read more

Hunter Mountain co-founder Orville Slutzky dies

By Lissa Harris
4/19/13 - 4:11 pm

 Orville Slutzky, co-founder of the Hunter Mountain ski center, family patriarch, and a well-known community figure and philanthropist, died on Thursday, April 18 at the age of 96. Hunter Mountain will hold a memorial service this Sunday, April 21.

An obituary released by Hunter Mountain on Friday recounted some of the history of Slutzky's long service to Hunter Mountain and to the surrounding community, along with his brother Izzy, with whom he co-founded the ski center. The obituary in full:

Hunter, NY – Orville A. Slutzky, age 96, the beloved co-founder of Hunter Mountain, passed away peacefully on April 18, 2013, in the company of loved ones. Orville was born in Hunter on February 13, 1917 and raised on his parents’ farm in Jewett, NY. The son of the late Isaac and Ella (Miller) Slutzky, he is survived by three children (Carol Slutzky-Tenerowicz, Paul Slutzky and Gary Slutzky), in addition to numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Read more