| Watershed Post

Two-vote candidate in Middleburgh protests election

Tom Wargo may not have been elected mayor of Middleburgh last month, but he's pretty sure he got more than two votes.

Wargo, who came in last by a long shot in a three-way race between incumbent Bill Ansel-McCabe and winning challenger Matthew Avitabile on March 20, is challenging the election in an effort to make sure the machines are working properly, the Times-Journal reports:

The best proof he has consists of signed statements from eight residents who said they voted for him, Mr. Wargo said.

"I have to have proof there's something wrong with the machine," he said. "I have those eight, and I suspect there are more. Where did the votes go?"

The paper reports that Schoharie County Judge George Bartlett will weigh in on the issue.

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Hanover Farms lawsuit a hot topic at Shandaken town meeting

Above: Jack Jordan listens as Vincent Bernstein reads a resolution to retain legal defense for the town against a lawsuit brought recently by Hanover Farms. Photo by Rusty Mae Moore.

Highlights from the Shandaken town board meeting on Monday, April 2: Town responds to Hanover Farms lawsuit, Bridge Street bridge to open by mid-summer, a donation from Timberlake Camp helps the Shandaken Ambulance Service buy a new vehicle, and a meeting on the Route 28 Scenic Byway proposal is scheduled.

Town responds to Hanover Farms lawsuit

Hanover Farms, a farmstand in a residentially-zoned area that has been operating in violation of Shandaken zoning law for almost a decade, was recently issued a stop-work order to halt repair work at the site by Shandaken zoning enforcement officer Ritchie Stokes.

The farmstand ignored the stop-work order, and on March 26, Hanover Farms filed a lawsuit against both the town of Shandaken and Stokes personally.

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Today: Pop-up farmer's market in Stamford

Spring has sprung, despite the thermometer and farmer's markets are beginning to pop up from their winter hiatuses. One that's literally popping up is the Stamford pop-up farmer's market, setting up at the historic Stamford railroad station this afternoon between 4:30 and 6pm. For a full account of who'll be there, and an update on planned Easter Sunday activities, see the listing in our calendar. -- Andrea Girolamo

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Stamford Pop-Up Farmers Market

Missing person alert: Jessica Plotnick of Saugerties

The Daily Freeman reports that Saugerties police are looking for 46-year-old Jessica I. Plotnick, last seen around 1pm on Monday afternoon:

[Deputy police chief Joseph] Sinagra said Plotnick left her home driving a dark red 2001 Subaru Legacy with New York license plates FFV 7420.

Sinagra gave no indication that police suspect foul play.

Sinagra said anyone who has seen Plotnick since Monday or knows where she is should call the Saugerties Police Department at (845) 246-9800.

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Cyrillic summer camp

The Catskills are full of summer camps, one for every ethnicity. Carolyn Simmons of West Laurels, NY visited a Russian summer camp called OTRADNOYE in Swan Lake, Sullivan County back in 2009. The camp's brightly-colored campus was deserted when she was there, but according to TripAdvisor and a commenter on the photo's Flickr page, it's still very much alive in June and July.

Simmons took these photos of the camp while she was there and posted them to the Watershed Post Flickr pool this week.

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Letter to the Editor: A new contest for a new congressional district

To the editor:

Schoharie and Otsego counties are in my new Congressional District, the 19th C.D. Dutchess County is also in our 19th C.D., so we have the pleasure of being in the same C.D. as that wonderful progressive Joel Tyner, a 5 term Dutchess county legislator who is working towards being in a June primary for the Democratic nomination for the 19th C.D. seat.

I have been going out with my designating petitions to get the signatures of registered Democrats in our 19th C.D. every day, since Joel Tyner has to gather several thousand signatures of registered Democrats in our C.D. by Friday, April 13th to get on the ballot Joel needs registered Democrats in Schoharie and Otsego counties as well to solicit signatures from your fellow registered Democrats and tell them about a candidate who supports single payer health care for all, wants fracking banned and is now working on getting Dutchess County tax monies out of Bank of America and Wells Fargo and into local banks.

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Letters to the Editor

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Schoharie County

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Government

Ulster County's own Bernie Madoff?

A Hurley man, 48-year-old John C. Benkert, has been arrested on charges of grand larceny and forgery after a five-month investigation into his business dealings.

State police say he stole over $360,000 from victims by convincing them to loan him money for nonexistent business dealings. A state police investigator is searching for victims that may have been caught up in the scheme.

New York State troopers announced the arrest on April 3:

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Sidney town council member Walter Goodrich dies

Walter Goodrich, a recently elected member of the Sidney town council and a 28-year veteran of the New York State Police, has died.

News of Goodrich's death was posted on Facebook today by a member of the Sidney Bi-Partisan Coalition, which campaigned on behalf of Goodrich and fellow town council member Gaby Pysnik in last November's election.

Another town council member, Pete Cordes, confirmed the news of Goodrich's death in a phone conversation.

Goodrich, a longtime Sidney resident, was also a former Sidney village justice and member of the Sidney Central School Board.

Gaby Pysnik's husband, longtime Sidney High School teacher David Pysnik, died suddenly and unexpectedly just a few weeks ago.

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It's a record-breaking year for American eels

Above: A juvenile American eel, sometimes called a "glass eel." Photo via the NY DEC website.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conversation announced today that the number of migrating American eels in the Hudson River may break some records this year, according to an annual community-powered eel census.

Juvenile American eels, which are just two inches long, migrate 1000 miles from the Sargasso Sea to the Hudson River Hudson River every spring. They then live in upstate rivers and streams for decades before returning to the sea.

A press release from the DEC sent today states that the eels have "arrived a month earlier and in far greater numbers " than they have since the eel-census began:

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Department of Environmental Conservation

eels

Missing person alert: Ashley MacDonald missing from Forestburgh

State officials have posted a Missing Child/College Student Alert for 20-year-old Ashley MacDonald, last seen in the Sullivan County town of Forestburgh around 11pm on April 2.

MacDonald is described as 5'1" and 105 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

From the alert:

Ashley was last seen on Sackett Lake Road in the Town of Forestburgh at approximately 11:00PM. She was wearing a pink shirt, blue jeans, tan sneakers and black hooded sweatshirt it is believed that she is on foot and in need of medical attention. Ashley is suicidal and has a history of drug abuse and violent tendencies.

If you see Ashley MacDonald or have information about her, call the Sullivan County Police Department at 845-794-7100, or call 911.

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missing persons

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Sullivan County

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