| Watershed Post

Onteora to appoint interim principal for Phoenicia school

The Onteora Central School District will appoint an interim principal to serve out the rest of the school year at Phoenicia Elementary, whose principal Linda Sella was placed on administrative leave in February.

Since Sella was forced to step down from her post, district administrators have refused to answer questions from parents and media about why she was placed on leave, saying only that it was a personnel issue.

At their next meeting on Tuesday, April 9, the Onteora Board of Education will vote on the appointment of Mona Jacobs as Phoenicia's interim principal. If appointed, Jacobs will start on April 18. Jacobs is a retired educator and former employee of the Onteora district, according to district clerk Fern Amster.

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education

Phoenicia Elementary

Onteora Central School District

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Mudslinging in Prattsville

A Prattsville home coated in ankle-deep mud after the 2011 Irene floods. Photo by All Hands Volunteers; published on Flickr under Creative Commons license.

In August of 2011, flooding from Tropical Storm Irene wreaked incredible damage on the Greene County town of Prattsville -- tearing houses off foundations, blasting through roads and buildings, and leaving a trail of toxic wreckage in its wake.

Not all the damage was physical. A recent story in the Times Union, published on March 23, paints a portrait of a town bitterly divided over the handling of the Irene cleanup. In the story, reporter Jamie Larson -- relying heavily on anonymous sources -- digs into accusations by Prattsville residents that town leaders used the recovery process to funnel lucrative contracts to family and friends.

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To market: Farmers wanted for grassroots local food hub

Above: Garlic from Lucky Dog Farm in Hamden -- a hot commodity in New York City, where the demand for local food is huge and growing.

Farmers who would like to tap into the lucrative New York City wholesale market are invited to Lucky Dog Farm in Hamden on Monday, April 8 at 2pm, where farmers and agriculture advocates will be talking about creating a local food hub to get more Catskills produce to downstate markets.

Lucky Dog farmer Richard Giles has enlisted educators from the Oneonta-based Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship (CADE) to come down and fill in attendees about the processes involved in becoming market-ready for wholesale distribution.

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Food

People

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farming

Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship

Lucky Dog Farm

CADE

Amphenol gets $3.8 million grant for new Sidney plant

Above: Amphenol's Sidney manufacturing plant on September 9, 2011, after back-to-back floods from Irene and Lee caused heavy damage at the plant. Screenshot from video shot by state Senator John Bonacic.

Aerospace manufacturer Amphenol, whose Sidney manufacturing plant is one of the largest employers in Delaware County, will receive a $3.8 million federal disaster grant to build a new plant on higher ground in the town, officials announced Tuesday.

The company's Sidney plant sustained about $35 million in damage from flooding from Tropical Storms Irene and Lee in 2011, just five years after another massive flood caused heavy damage to the plant.

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This weekend: Open house at Dirty Girl Farm

Above: The girls and boys of Dirty Girl Farm, on a recent visit to Main Street Farm in Livingston Manor. Left to right: Cyndi Wright, Jesse Wright-Bourke and Lester Bourke, and Dexter, a 1-month-old Lamancha buck. Photo shared on Dirty Girl's Facebook wall by Diane Amoroso Riegal.

Want to get up close and personal with a dairy goat? You’re invited over to Dirty Girl Farm in Andes this Sunday between 11am and 3pm -- bring the kids and the camera, and be sure to wear your play clothes.

Delaware County's newest goat dairy and creamery operation just got its Ag and Markets license last August. Since then, the farm's milking, pasteurizing and cheesemaking have been going strong.

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pepacton natural foods

Main Street Farm

Dirty Girl Farm

Wanna buy a newspaper? Dow Jones Local Media Group may be for sale

Above: The Times Herald-Record's office in Middletown, Orange County. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The News Corp-owned media group that publishes the Times Herald-Record may soon be on the market, according to a story this week in the Wall Street Journal (also owned by News Corp):

News Corp is exploring the sale of its Dow Jones Local Media group, the collection of community newspapers mainly on the East Coast that was formerly known as the Ottaway community newspapers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company has hired Waller Capital, the New York-based investment bank, to shop the papers, in hopes of selling them before the company spins off its publishing assets into a separate company this summer, according to the people.

The Local Media Group publishes the Times Herald-Record, along with seven other community newspapers.

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A sneak peek at the Gilboa Dam's $400 million upgrade

Above: A Flickr slideshow of photos taken during a DEP-led tour of the Gilboa Dam for local officials and media. Photos by Lissa Harris.

Cross your fingers for good weather in Gilboa this summer.

Weather permitting, a $400 million reconstruction project at the Gilboa Dam is on track to be finished almost two years ahead of schedule, according to officials at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. The project, begun in 2011 and originally slated for a 2016 completion date, is now likely to be finished in 2014.

Decades of wear have taken their toll on the 87-year-old dam, and constant freezing and thawing have eroded the dam's massive stone face. In 2005 and 2006, the DEP undertook some emergency stabilization work to strengthen the dam. The current -- and far more ambitious -- reconstruction project now underway at the dam adds dozens of post-tensioning anchors, several hundred million pounds of concrete, and a reconstructed spillway.

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NYC Department of Environmental Protection

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After a horrific injury in the Gunks, a young climber keeps moving upward

Above: Corey Stewart ascending a wall of rock in the Shawangunk Mountains in March 2012, a month before suffering a near-fatal accident. Photos courtesy of Corey Stewart.

Three days after reaching a milestone -- his 21st birthday -- Corey Stewart’s life took a drastic turn and nearly ended with a 30-foot drop.

Stewart, an enthusiastic rock climber from Hampton, New Jersey, spent most of the day on April 3, 2012 in the West Trapps area of the Mohonk Preserve scaling the Gunks' famously challenging rocks and cliffs.

A seemingly serene and peaceful activity turned into a traumatic accident when Stewart, attempting to reach the top of a route, suddenly fell backwards 30 feet into a wall of rock, taking the impact directly to his head. Stewart dangled by a rope as his brain swelled and he faded in and out of consciousness.

Due to a bit of luck and advanced medical technology, Stewart is back to living a normal life -- and even rock climbing again.

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Phoenicia's Brooklyn Spring

Above: Vintage t-shirts -- catnip for hipsters -- at The Mystery Spot Antiques in Phoenicia. Photo via the Mystery Spot Facebook Page.

Yes, the Catskills have been called "Brooklyn North" before. Often.

But this year, Phoenicia is taking a real run at being the northern outpost of NYC's hipster borough. Last week, Woodstock Times reporter Violet Snow wrote that the new rustic-chic motel The Graham & Co. is bringing Brooklynites to the village in droves:

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Homer & Langley's Mystery Spot Antiques

The Graham & Co.

Youth newspaper wins award for innovation in Sullivan County

Above: Manor Ink vies for a $5,000 innovation prize at the Sullivan County Nonprofit Leadership Summit on March 6. Photo by Manor Ink.

Manor Ink, a nonprofit youth-run print and online newspaper that covers Livingston Manor, began printing less than a year ago, but it has already won its first award. On March 6, at the 2013 Sullivan County Nonprofit Leadership Summit, the paper won the 2013 Nonprofit Innovation Award, which comes with a $5,000 prize.

Gem Helper, Tyler Young and Nathaniel DePaul, all staffers at Manor Ink and students at Livingston Manor Central School, represented the newspaper at the awards ceremony.

Left: Innovation is looking up in Sullivan County. Helper, Young and DePaul present a slideshow about Manor Ink at the summit. Photo by Lisa Lyons.

DePaul, who is Manor Ink's editor, wrote on the Manor Ink website that he and his fellow students were "overjoyed" to win:

More than the cash prize, this award is given to the organization which most changes their community for the better, so this meant a lot to Manor Ink. Out of the 13 groups that applied, Manor Ink won, despite how small and young the news outlet and the staff is. Manor Ink staff reported that they are truly excited, and will use the money to make the community and the newspaper even better.

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