Photo by Flickr user Darwin Bell. Published under Creative Commons license.

We've noticed a bunch of interesting job postings cropping up lately in the world of local food and restaurants.

(Does this bode well for the local food economy? Impossible to say. But you know what they say in journalism: Three makes a trend.) 

The Phoenicia Diner, recently bought by longtime second-homer Mike Cioffi, is looking for a chef to plot a radical makeover for the place:

With the clock ticking on a deadline set by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state officials and teachers' unions have brokered a deal that will create a new system for evaluating teachers.

The New York Times reports that Cuomo threatened to use his gubernatorial budget powers to pressure teachers' unions and education officials to come to an agreement:

A month ago, the governor warned the sides to reach a deal by midnight on Thursday — the last day he could submit his amendments to the budget — or he would impose his own evaluation system. And on Thursday, Mr. Cuomo emerged as the clear winner. For the first time, all school districts will have to abide by the same tight guidelines to assess teachers and principals, using a scoring system intended to take into account their performance and student achievement.

A press release issued on Thursday, Feb. 17, describes the new system:

Illustration of brown trout, by NOAA. Published on Wikimedia Commons.

Every two years, the state Department of Environmental Conservation tinkers with fishing regulations. This year, the DEC is recommending several changes that could affect fishing in local streams, including the Esopus and Catskill Creeks.

Among the proposed changes announced by the agency today: A ban on fishing in Catskill Creek from the Route 9W bridge upstream to the dam in Leeds from March 16 through the first Saturday in May, to protect spawning walleye.

Walleye poaching before the season opens in May has been a problem in Catskill Creek, and local anglers have called on officials to close the creek to fishing entirely in early spring. From an April 2011 story in the Daily Mail:

Illustration for the seed pack of heirloom tomato variety Cosmonaut Volkov. Art by cartoonist and graphic artist Will Sweeney, for the Hudson Valley Seed Library's "Art Pack" line of artist-designed seed packs.

This Friday, the Horticultural Society of New York fetes a local seed company, and the artists commissioned to design its signature line of seed packs, with an opening reception at their gallery in midtown Manhattan. Local stalwarts Brewery Ommegang and Tuthilltown Spirits will be on hand to provide libations. 

It's a grand event for the Hudson Valley Seed Library, a company that has grown quickly over the last few years from its humble origins as a seed-saving project in the Gardiner public library. Founders Ken Greene and Doug Muller now operate a small seed farm with an expanding line of heirloom varieties in the Ulster County hamlet of Accord, and run a seed-saving membership program for local gardeners.