Currently making the rounds of Change.org: A petition by pro-drilling Southern Tier residents to allow Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Delaware, Steuben and Tioga Counties to secede from New York State and join Pennsylvania. 

The signers, frustrated by New York State's long delay in issuing natural gas drilling regulations, are apparently mad as hell, and they're not gonna take it anymore:

The Southern Tier of New York State has been treated as a sacrifice zone by those other New Yorkers who would restrict us from developing our natural gas resources and revitalizing our economy. Those resources are ours and we are entitled to use them to save our farms, our families and our future. We, therefore, as residents of Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Delaware, Steuben and Tioga Counties, petition the legislature for the rights of Southern Tier counties to secede from the State of New York and join with the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania to be part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In the backpacks of Phoenicia Elementary School students today, along with the annual haul of Valentine's Day cards, was a somber letter from the Onteora School District: Principal Linda Sella was placed on administrative leave this week.

In a phone conversation Thursday afternoon, Onteora Board of Education president Ann McGillicuddy confirmed that Sella had been placed on leave, but did not give further details on her suspension. McGillicuddy told the Watershed Post that some Phoenicia parents were informed at a Wednesday PTA meeting, and others found out today via a letter sent home with students.

Both McGillicuddy and Onteora superintendent Phyllis McGill refused to discuss why Sella had been placed on leave, stating that it was a personnel issue.

Photo of New York City's Ashokan Reservoir. Photo by Flickr user dougtone; published under Creative Commons license.

Two towns in New York City's Catskills watershed passed bans on gas drilling on Tuesday: Andes, near the Pepacton Reservoir in Delaware County, and Olive, near the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County. Both Andes and Olive had previously passed temporary moratoriums on the practice.

Because of their overlap with the watershed that supplies New York City's drinking water, neither town was likely to see gas drilling, at least in the near future. But both had large citizen movements in support of passing a ban, in case the Department of Environmental Conservation reverses its current stance against drilling within the New York City watershed.

The Ulster County town of Olive is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a ban on gas drilling and petroleum extraction within town borders. A hearing on the proposed local law was held on Monday, February 11. 

In May of 2012, the Olive town board passed a one-year moratorium on gas drilling. The current law will replace the moratorium with a permanent ban. 

The new local law -- embedded below -- contains a few key differences from the town's 2012 moratorium. No longer included is a waiver that would allow gas companies to apply directly to the town board for an exemption from the law. Also, unlike the moratorium, the new law does not include language specifically banning the transport of fracking waste on roads within the town. 

The vote will be taken at the town's regular board meeting, 7:30pm at the town hall on Bostock Road in Shokan.