Three local residents and a dog were drowned in two separate accidents in Delaware County this week, the New York State Police announced Thursday morning. In both incidents, the victims apparently fell through thin ice and succumbed to hypothermia. 

The first victim, 74-year-old Marvin Taub of Oneonta, was reported missing on the evening of Monday, December 30, after he failed to return from walking his neighbor's dogs at the Pine Lake campus of Hartwick College in Davenport. A search was organized, with state troopers, forest rangers, Hartwick College public safety officers, and Davenport fire and EMS personnel. 

Taub's body was recovered from a frozen pond on the campus on the afternoon of Tuesday, December 31, after searchers found tracks leading to the pond. Delaware County medical examiner James Cooros examined Taub and declared the cause of death to be accidental drowning and hypothermia. 

Left: Photo of Barry Renert from the Cooperstown Police Department. 

Shots were fired this morning inside the 7th Inning Stretch store at 137 Main Street, New York State Police have announced. Police have asked the public to stay away from the area while they investigate.

The Daily Star reports that the suspect is 62-year-old Barry Renert, a former employee of the store who has been accused of embezzlement by the store's owner. 

WKTV reports that no injuries have been reported, and that Bassett Medical Center is on lockdown.

Not-so-heavy industry: A Scottish Highland cow grazes in a Meredith farm field. Photo by Ulla Kjarval; republished with permission.

On Thursday, Dec. 19, the town board of Meredith passed a ban on heavy industry aimed at keeping hydrofracking out of the rural Delaware County town.

The Daily Star reports that four town board members voted for the ban, and a fifth, Paul Menke, was absent from the meeting. 

The town held two public hearings on the proposed law earlier this month, which drew a mix of public opinion on the ban from local residents.

The law was drafted with assistance from two local land use attorneys: Nan Stolzenburg, of Community Planning and Environmental Associates in Schoharie County, and John Lyons of Grant & Lyons in Rhinebeck.

Above: A screenshot of Ulster County's new website, online at ulstercountyny.gov. The photo in the shot -- one of a series promoting Ulster County tourism -- is "Big Air At Belleayre," by local photographer Franz Edlinger.

Launched today: A new and improved website for Ulster County, boasting greater user-friendliness, increased access to government information, and a bunch of photos showing off some of the county's prettiest scenery, from Belleayre to the Rondout waterfront.

The county's new site is ADA-compliant, and will feature a site-wide emergency alert banner with critical information during emergencies. 

The website's architects at Next Step Digital, the Kingston digital design and marketing business that built the site, are proud of their work: