Letters to the Editor

Editor's note: The Onteora Central School District held a meeting last night in Boiceville at which Superintendent Phyllis Spiegel McGill said that she prefers the "bookend" plan, according to an article in the Daily Freeman. -- Julia Reischel

Dear Editor,

I'm writing in favor of the bookends plan for Onteora Central School District, which would turn Bennett into a 4-6 intermediate school and Phoenicia and Woodstock elementary schools into K-3 primary schools.

Full disclosure: my son attended Phoenicia elementary for the entirety of his elementary experience, and the class sizes were rarely more than 20 kids; my wife was the president of the PTA, and I frequently taught afterschool workshops both there and in Woodstock. We, as a family, feel lucky to live in the OCSD. Jack is currently thriving at Onteora middle school.  Read more

Dear Editor,

I am writing to express my support for the strong executive form of government created by the Ulster County Charter. Specifically, I have witnessed a focus on Catskills advertising and a coordinated flood response. As a business owner in Shandaken, these efforts have been critical to my business. In addition, we have seen a virtual flat-line to county taxes under Mike Hein because of his willingness to make tough choices, from consolidating departments to looking at whether government should be in the home health care business. Thank goodness Ulster County voters adopted a Charter that gave our Executive the responsibility to make tough decisions and that we elected a leader willing to tackle the hard issues.

Sincerely,

Scott Fawaz, Innkeeper
Alpine Osteria B&B
Highmount, New York

Dear Editor,

I am supporting Holley Carnright for District Attorney of Ulster County.

As our current DA, Holley Carnright has prosecuted over 18,000 cases and more than 100 individual members of street gangs in Ulster County. He has a 95% felony conviction rate.

His opponent Jon Sennett has not prosecuted one single case in the past 12 years. When he worked in the Bronx DA's office he claimed to have prosecuted 30 violent crimes. But it is widely known that the Bronx DA's office plea bargains almost all cases due to the massive case load.

Prior to Sennett's first unsuccessful attempt to become the district attorney, his web site highlighted going after the police. His top two published areas of practice were against police. Any resident of Ulster County will tell you that we hate corruption especially in those we trust. But crime is way more pervasive and a threat to us all.

Sennett has recently reported raising $16,000 out of $26,000 from NYC. I find it distasteful that a would-be DA in Ulster County is getting 60% of his funding from out of the county.  Read more

To the editor:

Here in Delaware County many are trying to understand what happened to us during flood. Tangled attachments to the past are gone, there is much loss and we in the community try to console one another. We spend years building our home and filling it with family and friends. It only takes one day for everything to fall apart. But something wonderful happened on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. in Margaretville.

Award-winning Halcottsville artist, Alix Travis, is exhibiting her paintings at the Long Year Gallery. The Gallery is located at the Commons Building on Main Street in Margaretville. Her series "Kitchen Paintings" is currently on view.

To continue the kitchen theme, on Saturday, September 17, 3-5 p.m. members of Writers in the Mountain read their writings which focused on food. Ann Epner contacted writers and extraordinary pieces were read by: Carol Little, Bethany Saltman, work by Matilda Friedman read by Rob Greenberg, Ellen Verni, Judy Bloom, Brenda Reeser, Jodie Primoff , Helane Levine-Keating, Rob Greenberg, Ann Epner, Lynn Domina and Barbara Apoian.  Read more