Staten Island hunter James Sperring shot himself in the foot while hunting with his brother in the Sullivan County town of Lumberland on Tuesday -- and his problems don't end there, the Times Herald-Record reports.

James Sperring, 53, was using a rope to pull a loaded gun up to a tree stand off of White Road around 6:45 a.m., said Lt. Deming Lindsley of the DEC police. The gun discharged when Sperring reached to grab it, with the bullet striking his right foot, Lindsley said...

...Both the DEC and state police are investigating the shooting for possible violations of state environmental and penal laws.

Penal laws? Maybe there's more to this story...

The Delaware County village of Hancock is under a boil-water advisory after a water main break on Tuesday afternoon, NY-Alert warns.

Water service was restored to the village quickly after the main break yesterday, according to village deputy clerk Monica Noble.

"Most people didn't even lose it, because there was still water in the lines," Noble said.

But the boil-water alert will not be lifted until at least Friday, December 7, Noble said. The village has sent a sample of water for testing to make sure it is not contaminated, and they expect to get the results back on Friday.

Residents with questions can contact the village office at (607) 637-5341.

Above: The official trailer for "How To Survive a Plague," a documentary about AIDS activists in the '80s and '90s by filmmaker David France.

The Delaware County town of Middletown may get the chance to root for one of its own at the upcoming Oscars in February. A documentary by David France, a part-time New Kingston resident who owns the iconic Galli-Curci Theatre building on Main Street in Margaretville with his partner Jonathan Starch, has just been named to a shortlist of 15 films that will be considered for Oscar glory.

It's not the first honor for "How To Survive A Plague," a documentary about the AIDS activists of ACT-UP and TAG who pushed successfully in the '80s and '90s to make the epidemic a public health priority. The film was an official selection at Sundance 2012, and won Best Documentary at the 2012 Gotham Independent Film Awards in November.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency set up a Disaster Recovery Center at the Hudson River Maritime Musuem in Kingston on Monday. The center will be open every weekday through Friday, December 7 to help businesses and individuals who were affected by the Sandy storms to register for FEMA aid.

Art Snyder of Ulster County Emergency Services writes on the department's blog:

Unlike the registration centers that were open last weekend in Kingston and Saugerties, the DRC will provide residents and businesses with an opportunity to talk to FEMA and Small Business Association representatives about their specific situation. Affected property owners are encouraged to apply for assistance by calling FEMA at 800-621-3362, registering on line at DisasterAssistance.gov, or by stopping in at the DRC.

The DRC will be open from 10am to 5pm daily for the rest of the week, at 50 Rondout Landing on Kingston's Rondout waterfront.

Above: The Gilboa Dam. Photo by Flickr user mountain_man_ny_2, published under Creative Commons license.

In the coming weeks, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection will install two massive siphons in the Gilboa Dam, which has been under construction to repair damage sustained during the record-busting floods of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

That's good news for those downstream of New York City's Schoharie Reservoir, where local advocates see the siphons as a much-needed means of drawing down water when flooding is in the forecast. But it also means a few weeks of muddy water flowing down the Esopus, where the city's water releases have become a source of fierce local ire, and a political punching bag for county executive Mike Hein.