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Constitution Pipeline Project to hold public "open house" meetings

Above: Detail from a map showing the proposed route of the Constitution Pipeline. If built, the Constitution Pipeline will transport natural gas from northern Pennsylvania to existing pipelines that pass through Schoharie County. Source: Constitution Pipeline website.

Want a chance to talk to the company planning to build a 120-mile natural gas pipeline across the northwestern edge of the Catskills? Here's your chance: The Constitution Pipeline Company will host open-house meetings in Delaware and Schoharie Counties this week.

The proposed pipeline would be an underground line, 30 inches in diameter, connecting gas from Pennsylvania to pipelines that serve the Boston and New York City energy markets. Landowners whose land is crossed by the pipeline will receive compensation based on impact and the market value of the land, and the company has stated that local communities may be able to tap into the line along the route.

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Constitution Pipeline

In our deals section: VoiceFest and Jam Camp

We've been racking up freebies and discounts in our WP Deals section. Three local musical deals are below. Click the links to see the fine print, and the "Buy Now" buttons to buy.

WP Deal: 50% off two-week Summer Jam Camp for Teens & Tweens

Get your kid a rock education for half off this summer. The Community Music and Arts Network is selling three discounted tuition slots to its 2012 Summer Jam Camp for kids ages 8 to 18 through the Watershed Post. The camp will be held in South Kortright Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, August 6th – 10th & 13th – 17th for local youth, ages 8 to 18. Send your kid for $125 -- the normal price is $250.

Coxsackie water treatment plant struck by lightning

Yesterday's thunderstorms delivered some much-needed rain to the region -- but they also knocked out a piece of local infrastructure.

The Daily Mail reports that the treatment plant that filters the water for the village of Coxsackie was struck by lightning late Monday night:

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On the wing

Catskills Photography got a couple of jewellike dragonflies to hold still for his camera recently. The shot above was taken in Neversink last weekend; the one below is from Monticello on July 10.

Photos shared in the Watershed Post's Flickr group pool -- if you've got great local photos to share with us, feel free to post them there.

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Cannonsville: Looking pretty dry

Lately, visitors to a few of New York City's upstate reservoirs have been getting an especially good look at the bottom. On Saturday, Flickr user David got this beautiful shot of the Cannonsville, with plenty of mud on display along with the crystal-blue water.

On July 20, according to the most recent Department of Environmental Protection stats, the Cannonsville Reservoir was at just 78.5 percent of its capacity. The Neversink, with 72.7 percent, and the Schoharie, with 71.8 percent, were even lower.

Readers near the Cannonsville: Did this morning's rains raise the water level in the reservoir at all?

Photo shared in the Watershed Post's Flickr group pool. Got a great local photo? Share it with us!

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Cannonsville Reservoir

drought

Severe thunderstorm warning for Delaware, Sullivan, Greene counties

Thunderstorms -- and possibly large hail -- are on their way into the Catskills from the west. Via NY-Alert:

At 257 PM EDT...National Weather Service Doppler Radar Indicated A Severe Thunderstorm Capable Of Producing Quarter Size Hail...And Damaging Winds In Excess Of 60 Mph. This Storm Was Located Near Sanford...And Moving East At 30 Mph. * The Severe Thunderstorm Will Be Near... Walton By 330 PM EDT... Harvard And 8 Miles North Of East Branch By 332 PM EDT... Colchester By 334 PM EDT... Colchester By 336 PM EDT... Downsville And Corbett By 344 PM EDT... 8 Miles Southwest Of Andes By 400 PM EDT.

A few minutes later, another warning was posted on NY-Alert for central Otsego and north-central Delaware County:

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Hudson Valley Chalk Festival draws large crowds

Above: Chalk artist Jeanie Burns works on her piece at the Hudson Valley Chalk Art Festival. All photos by Steve Brooks.

New Paltz was chalk-full of artists this weekend, as Water Street Market hosted the first ever Hudson Valley Chalk Art Festival.

Over 4,000 people gathered to gaze at some of America’s best-known chalk artists as they transformed the Water Street Market into a chalk gallery.

Thirteen professional chalk artists from around the country were showcased in 10-by-18-foot spaces at the festival, and 12 spots were reserved for local artists, according to The Poughkeepsie Journal.

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Hudson Valley Chalk Art Festival

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Buy meat at Hannaford? Check your freezer for recalled beef

On Sunday, the USDA announced the recall of 29,339 pounds of ground beef sold to supermarkets by Pennsylvania meat packer Cargill. The meat may have been contaminated with Salmonella, and has been traced to an outbreak of gastroenteritis that sickened 33 people in 7 states in June.

The beef, packed by Cargill on May 25, was sold in 14-pound wholesale packages to Hannaford stores in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. Hannaford stores then repackaged it into consumer-sized packages.

The use-by date on the meat has passed, but the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service warns that people who bought the recalled beef may still have some in their freezers.

From USA Today:

Hannaford's says consumers should check their ground beef for "use or sell by" dates between May 29 and June 16. Refunds will be offered for ground beef that is returned.

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Advertise in our new print outdoors guide, in partnership with the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce

It's a first -- the Watershed Post is partnering with the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce to produce a print (yes, print!) and online guide to the Catskills outdoors, just in time for the Central Catskills Great Outdoors Experience Festival on August 25 - 26.

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Faces of the Flood: "The tsunami after the hurricane"

Above: Dorothy Maffei in an Arkville warehouse where she and teams of volunteers stored tons of clothing donated after Tropical Storm Irene. Photo by Christopher Auger-Dominguez.

This week in our Faces of the Flood series: How donations after a disaster caused more problems than they solved for Dorothy Maffei, a shopkeeper who became Margaretville's town's go-to recovery organizer.

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