| Watershed Post

Table limit: New York State releases minimum investment figures for casinos

Photo by Flickr user Mark Menzies; published under Creative Commons license.

Casino developers hoping to land one of four prized licenses from New York State will have to prove that they're investing enough in the project. But although the state's minimum investment figures are in the hundreds of millions of dollars, they're not likely to prove an obstacle to deep-pocketed casino developers, many of whom have already unveiled plans to spend much more than the state's required minimum figures.

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WWII airplane crashes in Roxbury

Above: A WWII plane that crash-landed at the edge of a field on North Montgomery Hollow Road in Roxbury on Friday. Photo by Lissa Harris.

A small airplane with a single occupant crashed on North Montgomery Hollow Road near Hubbell Corners, in the Delaware County town of Roxbury, around 12:30 p.m. today. The pilot was injured in the crash.

Just before the crash, the plane had been circling downtown Roxbury, according to eyewitness Jill Ribich, a Roxbury resident and local photographer who was on the scene minutes after the plane crashed. Ribich said she thought the pilot may have been aiming for a small grassy landing strip nearby, but was unable to make the landing.

"I was coming up Route 30, and he was circling the town. He was banking so fast," she said. "We do aerial photography. I knew he was going to go down."

Above: A damaged tree with metal from the crash embedded in it, a few yards away from where the plane came to rest. Photo by Lissa Harris.

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Delaware County Emergency Services

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Building a Farm Around the Table: Horton Hill Farm

Above: The Parker family (left to right): Carol, Kelly, Bill and Eric, with Lilly and Lincoln. Photography by Richard A. Smith.

Bill and Carol Parker both grew up on farms and were happy to escape them as young adults. Bill’s family raised veal in Jefferson, and Carol spent her teenage years milking cows twice a day at her parents’ dairy farm in East Meredith. They left home for college and the wider world, eventually settling into careers as teachers in Schoharie County and marrying.

When daughter Kelly came along, though, the Parkers were forced to rethink their trips to the grocery store. Pre-packaged, boneless chicken breasts and snacks full of artificial colors and flavorings suddenly seemed even less attractive.

“When we had our first kid, we started really thinking about what we could feed her,” Bill Parker says, sitting at his kitchen table with Carol, Kelly, 16, and son Eric, 10. “So we bought 25 chickens.”

That was the first year. The second year, they quadrupled their stock to 100 birds, and the third year, tripled again to 300. Somewhere along the way, Bill went in with two friends on raising three piglets.

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Out of his league: Cobleskill bowler jailed on larceny charge

The treasurer of the Cobleskill Bowling League has been charged with embezzling about $10,000 from the league, police say.

Arrested this week by New York State Police troopers was 50-year-old Summit resident Charles Bowen, who has been charged with third-degree grand larceny.

As the treasurer of the league, Bowen was charged with collecting membership dues from about 50 members, police say. Between September of 2013 and April of 2014, police claim, he collected about $20,000 for the league, roughly half of which he took for his own personal use.

The missing funds were discovered when other league members tried to pay bills that were returned for insufficient funds, police say.

Bowen was arraigned in Cobleskill town court and remanded to the Schoharie County jail.

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This weekend: Foodstock at the Villa Roma

This Saturday, Sullivan County celebrates food, wine and public radio at Foodstock, an annual fundraiser for WJFF Radio Catskill. The event, held at the Villa Roma Resort in Callicoon, features a smorgasbord of tastings from local chefs, farmers, bakers, cheesemakers, wineries, distillers and more.

Among this year's dozens of vendors are a few exciting fresh faces on the Catskills local food scene -- like Roscoe's Northern Farmhouse Pasta, creators of a mouthwatering wild ramp ravioli, and Wurtsboro's Aaron Burr Cidery, whose founder Andy Brennan has been dubbed "New York's hottest cider producer" by Grub Street.

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Hanover Farms the topic of public hearing in Shandaken

Tonight's public hearing on Hanover Farms, a farmstand on Route 28 in Mt. Tremper, ought to draw a feisty crowd to the Shandaken Town Hall.

The farmstand was shut down by a New York State Supreme Court judge's order last November, the latest in a long battle between the Hanover Farms and the town of Shandaken over the farmstand's disregard for local zoning law. In 2012, that battle moved from the court of public opinion to an actual courtroom, when Hanover Farms sued the town and its code enforcement officer for issuing a stop-work order on new construction at the farmstand. The town then filed a countersuit against Hanover Farms.

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Raw milk contamination found on Orange County farm

Photo of raw milk by Flickr user Kristen Taylor; published under Creative Commons license.

Two years ago, farmers Bob and Stacey Stap decided to start selling raw milk from their 100-cow farm in the Orange County hamlet of Pine Bush. It made sense: The price was higher than what they were getting from their processor, and customers were grateful to have it.

But lately, the Staps are thinking about getting out of the raw milk business. It's too stressful, says Bob Stap.

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This Weekend: New Paltz Bike Swap

Above: Cyclists, vendors and more attend the New Paltz Bike Swap to recycle or pick up new wheels. Photo courtesy of New Paltz Bike Swap Facebook page.

Bike enthusiasts hoping to recycle their rides can trade in forgotten, road-weary bicycles or shop around for a new set of wheels this Saturday at the 7th annual New Paltz Bike Swap.

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Missing Cohoes cyclist found in Schoharie

A Cohoes man who was reported missing, after he left his house on a bicycle on Sunday and did not return, was found late Monday afternoon in the village of Schoharie, about 47 miles away.

The disappearance of 54-year-old Felix Rodriguez was widely reported around the Capital Region on Monday. Family members told police that Rodriguez liked to bike around local trails and places with views of water.

Around 5 p.m., Schoharie County sheriff's deputy Terry Minton was on patrol in the village, and spotted Rodriguez on his bike, according to the Schoharie County Sheriff's Office. Minton questioned the man, who gave his name. When Minton discovered that he had been reported missing, he alerted Cohoes police, who contacted the man's family.

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Four injured in Trailways bus crash

Above: An injured victim being treated at the scene of this morning's bus accident on Route 17 in Ramsey, N.J. Photos by Boyd A. Loving; courtesy of the Cliffview Pilot.

A flying car wheel smashed through the windshield of a Pine Hill Trailways bus bound from Kingston to Manhattan on Route 17 around 7:30 this morning, injuring four people, according to several downstate media reports.

The wheel flew off a Lexus that was driving north, in the opposite direction from the bus, the Cliffview Pilot reports. Two people aboard the bus were critically injured in the accident, and two others sustained head injuries.

One of the injured victims was airlifted to a hospital, and a few others were transported by ambulance, NorthJersey.com reports.