After a year in office, Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens told his staff in a memo issued on February 23 that he was "especially proud of the DEC's response to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee." But he forgot to mention Belleayre Mountain Ski Center in a list of the agency's disaster accomplishments.

The staff at Belleayre housed and fed 160 people during the floods last fall, working around the clock as a refugee center, shelter, and medical center. To people made homeless by the flood in Delaware, Ulster, and Greene county, Belleayre was a lifeline. 

But while Martens praised DEC forest rangers, remediation staff, dam safety workers, water division staff, central office staff, and solid waste staff, somehow Belleayre staffers weren't on the list.

DEC spokesperson Emily DeSantis calls the omission "an oversight." As soon as it was discovered, she said, Commissioner Martens revised his letter "to recognize all DEC divisions involved with the storm response."

Indeed, a new letter was sent out on March 1, this time praising Belleayre's role in the aftermath of the floods.

Above: Nancy McShane and Ann Roberti with their 2011 trash haul on Tremperskill Road in Andes. Photo by Sarah Lewis.

Every spring, Ann Roberti, Nancy McShane, and Judy Garrison roll up their sleeves and pick up trash off the byways of the town of Andes. As you can see from this photo of last year's haul, there's quite a lot of trash lying on the roads after a spring thaw. This year, the "bag ladies of the Tremperskill" are looking for volunteers to help their spring cleaning efforts on April 18 and April 25. Their recruitment note is below.

THE BAG LADIES REQUEST

Above: The triumphant girls' Livingston Manor basketball team, which beat Roscoe 53 - 31 last night at Sullivan County Community College to win the Section Nine Class D championship. Photo by Nick Piatek - SportsInsightsNY.com. 

It's March Madness for high schools across the Catskills. This week, varsity teams across the region played their sectional championship games, and two high schools -- South Kortright in Section Four and Livingston Manor in Section Nine -- won it all. 

Video of last night's NYSHTA awards ceremony by Joseph Massa of the Roxbury Motel. 

Last night, the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association gave its highest honor, the 2012 Outstanding Tourism Executive of the Year award, to Gregory Henderson, the owner of the funky vintage-television-themed Roxbury Motel in Roxbury.

The award means that, in the hospitality industry's opinion, Roxbury's sleepy little corner of Delaware County is home to one of the best hotels in the state. 

Henderson was honored at a gala event at the Hotel Albany. Henderson's partner, Joseph Massa, got footage of Henderson's big moment, including a NYSHTA video shot onsite at the Roxbury featuring Henderson cavorting in some of the hotel's many tricked-out theme rooms. You can watch the whole thing above.