| Watershed Post

Holiday light displays wanted

Photo by Flickr user Jim Lugach. Used under a Creative Commons license.

We're smack-dab in the middle of Hanukkah, Christmas is two weeks away, and so it's time for you to send us photos of your holiday lights. Whether you go subtle and ring your abode with white lights, or you get a little carried away and your neighbors have to install black-out shades in response to your annual display of eight tiny reindeer and 80,000 twinkling lights, send your best shots to [email protected] or upload them to our Flickr pool -- we'll be showing the best photos every day until Christmas.

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FEMA deadline for Sandy aid postponed until January 28

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday that the deadline to register for federal aid in the wake of Hurricane Sandy has been extended past December 31 to January 28.

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Woodstock votes for Fire District Commissioner

Tonight, the annual election for a vacant seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Woodstock Fire District will take place from 5 to 9pm at the Woodstock Firehouse No. 1, located at 242 Tinker Street. An announcement on the Woodstock fire department Facebook page lists the terms the new treasurer will be responsible for:

To elect one (1) Fire District Commissioner for a five (5) year term commencing January 1, 2013 and ending December 31, 2017.

All residents of the Woodstock Fire District, who are registered to vote with the Ulster County Board of Elections on or before November 19, 2012 shall be entitled to vote at this election.

The candidates running for the open position include Jim Dougherty, Bill Facompre, Duncan Wilson, and Mike Lourenso, who lost his bid for his own seat on the board last year. The five member board of commissioners meets the second Thursday of each month at the Company No. 1 firehouse.

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Snow on the moss in Hunter

Photographer Ethan Myers took this photo of a wintery stream in Hunter on November 17, and shared it with us in the Watershed Post Flickr pool. Check out a closeup of the snow on the moss, below.

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Catskills, watch out for sleet on the roads tonight

The National Weather Service in Albany warns that freezing rain is expected this afternoon and into the evening across the Catskills, especially at elevations above 1200 feet. From NY-Alert:

Elevations Above 1200 Feet Will Be Most Susceptible To These Pockets Of Freezing Rain...Which Could Lead To Locally Slippery Road Conditions. All Interests Should Use Extreme Caution When Driving Through These Areas...In Case Some Bridges...Overpasses And Other Untreated Road Surfaces May Be Slippery.

511-NY tweeted around 4:30pm that parts of both Route 28 and Route 10 were looking icy:

Weatherincdnt: snow and ice conditions on NY 10 both directions btw Town of Delhi; Town of Hamden Line and Montgomery; Schoharie Cnty Line

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Tonight: Opera stars lead caroling at Woodstock's Open House

Above: Toy soldiers stand guard during the town-wide holiday Woodstock Open House in 2010. Photo by Julia Reischel.

Short notice, we know -- but if you're a fan of Christmas caroling, we suggest you head to Woodstock, where the team of internationally-renowned opera singers behind the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice will be leading hundreds of voices in caroling during Woodstock's annual Open House. Carolers are gathering at 5pm today at Sunflower Natural Foods, and will be singing ti 7pm.

(No need to be a renowned opera singer yourself: The VoiceFest's Maria Todaro writes that all are welcome, and suggests that you wear warm clothes and bring a candle to hold.)

If you can't make the Woodstock event, you'll get another chance. The VoiceFest singers will be leading community carols in Phoenicia on December 22, when downtown Phoenicia celebrates its "Night Before Christmas" event with a show at STS Playhouse, a sing-along Messiah, and a visit from Santa at the Mama's Boy coffee shop.

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Village of Bloomingburg refuses to allow vote on its own dissolution

Downtown Bloomingburg in August, 2008. Photo by Daniel Case; published on Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons license.

It seems Bloomingburg wants a little less government. About 100 residents of the Sullivan County village -- population 420, as of the 2010 census -- have signed a petition seeking to hold a public referendum on dissolving the village government.

But the village has refused to consider the petition, first by being curiously absent from the village hall, where petitioners tried to hand-deliver it, and later by rejecting it outright.

The plot thickens: Village clerk Susan Berentsen, who rejected the petition after consulting with the village's lawyer, is married to village mayor Mark Berentsen, a situation petitioners claim is creating a conflict of interest.

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Delaware County makes an elevator pitch to Cuomo

Above: MARK Project director Peg Ellsworth, who serves on the Southern Tier Regional Economic Council, presents Gov. Andrew Cuomo with a gift basket of Delaware County goodies during the Governor's visit to the Southern Tier on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Peg Ellsworth.

This week, New York State's ten new economic development regions are doing their best to impress, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo makes a statewide tour. The ten regions were created by Cuomo's administration in 2011 as public-private partnerships to plan economic growth in the state.

On Wednesday, Cuomo paid a visit to the Southern Tier Economic Development Region, a region that includes rural Delaware County as well as Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins County. Last year, in a round of competitive grants to the state's ten economic development regions, the Southern Tier won a total of $49.4 million in state grants -- an infusion of cash into the region's economy, but also the lowest award made to any of the regions.

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Drug deal gone bad in Palenville ends in a stabbing -- and three arrests

Three Ulster County residents were arrested after the stabbing of a Palenville man on Tuesday, an assault police say occurred after an argument over a drug sale.

Around 11:30pm on Tuesday night, according to a New York State Police press release, a 23-year-old Palenville man was involved in an altercation over a drug sale with three people: 31-year-old Jason A. King of Modena, 19-year-old Alyssa Berinato of West Camp, and 19-year-old James Guiditta of Saugerties.

During the fight, police say, King, Berinato and Guiditta forcibly stole drugs from the man, and King stabbed him several times.

The Palenville man, who police did not name, was transported by friends to Kingston Hospital and does not have life-threatening injuries.

King faces charges of first-degree robbery, a class B felony; second-degree robbery, a class C felony; second-degree assault, a class D felony; and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class A misdemeanor. He was arraigned before Town of Catskill Justice William Wootton, and remanded to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.

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Margaretville Bowl: A '60s time capsule goes on the market

Above: The original 1960s mechanical pin-setter machines and surface ball-returns of Margaretville Bowl. All photos by Julia Reischel.

Walking into Margaretville Bowl is walking onto the set of "Mad Men."

The eight-lane alley opened in 1960 with brand-new pink-and-chrome Brunswick fittings throughout. Half a century later, the vintage ball returns, mechanical pin-setters, and lockers are still immaculate. It's a '60s time capsule, right down to the eight-foot-tall plywood bowling pin that rotates in the breeze on a pole outside.

Now Margaretville Bowl is for sale, and all those beautiful vintage fittings are up for grabs. Or for ripping out, depending on the buyer's whims -- a recent ad for the property described it only as a commercial space, without mentioning the building's one-of-a-kind interior.