A man has been found dead at the scene of a fire on Route 28 in Shokan that forced the closing of Route 28, and drew hundreds of police and first responders, on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a statement released by New York State Police late Tuesday evening, 48-year-old Brett Sirois was found dead in a pick-up truck near a barn at 3358 Route 28. Both the truck and the barn were consumed by fire during a blaze that started around 3:45pm. 

As local fire companies responded to the fire, shots were heard from the property, possibly from exploding ammunition that had been stored in the burning barn. Steve Fuller, assistant chief of the Olive Fire Department, told the Watershed Post that firefighters were initially warned to stay away from the scene by county police because shots had been fired.

In upstate New York's smallest villages, every vote really does count.

The Delaware County village of Hancock got a potent reminder of the power of the ballot box in last Tuesday's election, when incumbent mayor John Martin squeaked to victory over challenger Eugene Morgan by just a single vote, 107-106. 

Because of the closeness of the race, Morgan asked the Delaware County Board of Elections to do a recount of the ballots. 

Democratic election commissioner Judy Garrison said that a recount done on Tuesday, March 26, which included 15 absentee ballots that had already been counted by the village, upheld the original vote count, 107 for Martin to 106 for Morgan. 

While statewide elections went electronic after 2010, Hancock -- along with some other villages -- is still using old lever machines for local elections. They're still working just fine, Garrison said.

"They used some of the old machines, so we had to check the tumblers," she said. 

Above: Delaware County's newest healthcare facility, a 2,800-square-foot health clinic in Andes. Photo courtesy of Bassett Healthcare Network.

The doctor is officially in. Today, Bassett Healthcare announced the opening of its new health clinic on South Main Street in Andes. 

The much-anticipated opening of the Andes clinic means that patients on the eastern edge of Bassett's territory will be able to get primary care without traveling to Delhi or Oneonta. The Andes health center will be open from 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.

Longtime local primary care physician Susan Fiore is the clinic's medical director. Licensed nurse Janine Sprague will also be on staff at the clinic. In a press release from Bassett, Fiore said she was looking forward to seeing patients in Andes:

View Route 17 Construction - Spring 2013 in a larger map

Two bridges carrying the exit and entrance ramps for westbound Route 17 in Liberty, at Exit 100, will be closed for an extensive $1 million construction project beginning Monday, March 25.

A bomb threat targeting the Marbletown Elementary School was discovered in the Rondout Valley High School today, forcing an evacuation of students in the elementary school to the Stone Ridge Community Center. 

From a post on the Facebook page of the Rondout Valley Central School District, made around 1:30pm Thursday:

Marbletown Elementary School will be evacuated to the Community Center in Stone Ridge due to a bomb threat that was discovered in the High School targeting Marbletown. Parents of Marbletown students may pick up their child at the Community Center with proper ID. Buses will drop off students from the Community Center to home. Some delay from the regular drop off time may be expected.

The Rondout Valley Central School District has been grappling with threats to the elementary school since last December, when an anonymous threatening letter was sent to the school over winter break.