The Daily Freeman reports that the Saugerties Key Bank was robbed at gunpoint at 11:44am this morning by a man who left on foot and remains at large.

Update: The Ulster County Sheriff's Office has released a photo of the robber (above). He is described as a white male, 5ft 10in, clean shaven, and wearing dark thick rimmed glasses, a green knit ski cap and a beige jacket. Anyone who recognizes this man or has any information isa sked to contact the Saugerties Police Department at (845) 246-9800.

Image from "How To Survive A Plague" Facebook page.

"How To Survive A Plague," the first film by documentary filmmaker David France, was announced Thursday as an Oscar nominee, making the cut with four other documentary films vying for Best Documentary Feature in the upcoming Academy Awards. The film, which traces the history of AIDS activism and the successful fight by activists to jump-start the process of pharmaceutical research and develop new life-saving drugs, has already racked up many awards on its path to the red carpet, including a "Best Documentary" win at the high-profile Gotham Independent Film Awards in November.

Above: The Cannonsville Reservoir looking serene, if a bit low on water, in July of 2012. Photo by Flickr user mountain_man_ny_2; published under Creative Commons license.

The agency that manages New York City's water -- and its vast upstate watershed -- is taking another small step toward opening up its reservoirs for public use.

This April, the Cannonsville Reservoir will be opened up to fishing boats with electric trolling motors for the first time. If the pilot program is successful, it may be introduced at other reservoirs, following the example of the city's recreational boating program. Launched on the Cannonsville in 2009, the recreational boating program now allows canoes, kayaks and sailboats on four upstate reservoirs.

The program, according to New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) deputy commissioner Paul Rush, is for fishing boats only. But allowing electric trolling motors will make it easier for anglers to access more of the reservoir, and open up the reservoir to people who are physically unable to row.

Deposit resident Lloyd Hornbeck, avid fisherman and longtime proprietor of Hornbeck's Sport Shop, said that local anglers had been talking with the DEP about allowing motorboats on the reservoir for some years.

The Catskills hold special rewards for those who get up early. Here, the sun rises over a snowy field in Esperance, with the waning crescent moon still gleaming in the sky.

Photo taken early Tuesday morning by Flickr user A Man Called ACME, and shared in the Watershed Post's Flickr group pool.

The Schoharie County Board of Supervisors has elected Fulton supervisor Phil Skowfoe as county chairman, in a close vote taken Monday evening. Skowfoe is the first Democrat to lead the county board in 20 years, the Schoharie Times Journal reports:

Mr. Skowfoe, the first Democrat Chairman since David Handy of Sharon, succeeds Harold Vroman of Summit.

"I'd like to mend fences that haven't been mended," Mr. Skowfoe said after his election.

"I tried to do that as vice chairman and wasn't successful. Maybe I can do a better job from here."

He is entering his 16th year on the board.