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5th Anniversary of Catskills Cabaradio this Saturday

Elly Wininger and Dorothy Greenberg during an installment of "Your Mother Should Know," Catskill Cabaradio's live advice Q&A with the world's wisest mother. Photo via the Cabaradio website.

Four times a year, we are lucky enough to have a Cabaradio weekend here in the Catskills, and one will be coming around again this Saturday evening in Pine Hill. Cabaradio is a volunteer run special project of the Pine Hill Community Center; a live-with-audience, free broadcast event that is tongue-in-cheek described on Cabaradio’s web page as “A Prairie Home Companion meets David Letterman meets Hee Haw extravaganza not to be missed."

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The latest from Prattsville

Above: A contractor clearing storm debris from DEP land in Prattsville along the Schoharie Creek. Photo provided by the DEP.

There's a lot happening in the Greene County town of Prattsville. The town, which was walloped by Tropical Storms Irene and Lee, has a new website, Prattsville.org. We welcome it with loud huzzahs.

Jenn Schumann, the host of the WIOX 91.3FM morning show Java with Jenn and Friends, sent us some info about the new website last week:

This website includes a news/events page which will keep you up-to-date with what is happening in and around town. This page includes links to major stories about flooding and anything else that have come up since the big flood.

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NYC Department of Environmental Protection

Catskill Ballet presents The Nutcracker

The first swoosh of winter

Snowboarder Laura Ferrendino makes tracks in the first good snow of the season on Belleayre Mountain today.

The ski center announced on Facebook today that they plan to start running the lifts on Saturday, December 10.

Photo by Jonathan King; reproduced by permission.

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New York State closing on Belleayre land sale

State Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner Joe Martens announced yesterday, December 7, that the long-anticipated sale of a 1200-acre parcel of land near the Belleayre Ski Center to the state is at last going through.

The Times-Union reports:

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Department of Environmental Conservation

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Assembly passes tax bill

As predicted, the Assembly joined the Senate in passing Gov. Andrew Cuomo's tax overhaul just past 1am this morning, Daily News reporter Ken Lovett writes. But it wasn't quite the same unanimous lovefest:

Unlike in the Senate, where the vote was unanimous, the Assembly had more dissent from the Republican minority. Many GOPers complained the tax increases on the wealthy would hurt the state's business climate. Some called the tax cuts for the middle class a pittance, with one saying it won't cover the cost of a tank of gas per month. Others complained about the closed-door nature of the negotiations.

More background on the new tax code (including a link to the bill itself).

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Breaking: New York State Senate votes in tax reform, 55-0

Just after 9pm, the New York State Senate voted unanimously -- 55 to 0 -- in favor of a sweeping overhaul of the New York State tax code. The new law increases the tax rate on single filers earning more than $1 million a year ($2 million for married filing jointly), and decreases it for just about everyone else.

The bill now heads to the Assembly, where it's expected to pass.

For a reform of this magnitude, this has all unfolded very quickly. On Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo sent a press release -- dubbed an "op-ed" -- to newspapers across the state, arguing for an overhaul of the tax code. On Tuesday, Cuomo and key members of the state legislature announced that they had made a deal on a state income tax overhaul. And today, the legislature met in special session to vote on the bill.

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Winter storm warnings (and some glee from local ski centers)

Watch out: Flooding and/or snow could be headed your way tonight, depending on where in the Catskills you are.

Eastern Ulster County is under a flood watch until early Thursday morning.

A winter storm warning is in effect until early Thursday morning for Greene and Ulster County:

...Winter Storm Warning Remains In Effect Until 6 AM EST Thursday... *

Locations...Central And Southeast Catskills...Berkshires And Southern Green Mountains.

Hazard Types...Heavy Snow.

Accumulations...5 To 10 Inches Of Snow Across The Southern Berkshires...6 To 12 Inches Of Snow Across Bennington County...And 8 To 16 Inches Of Snow Across Western Windham County...The Northern Berkshires And Central And Southeast Catskills.

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Stayin' Alive: Baby it's Cold Outside

If it's zero degrees outside today and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be? As we start to experience the chills of a Catskills winter, questions like that (except maybe a little less tongue in cheek) become more and more common.

With the cold in the air, many turn to space heaters to keep their homes a little more livable. These types of heat-generating devices are efficient in taking the chilly edge out of an otherwise unoccupied area, and at times they may seem more economical than conventional means of heating even regularly occupied spaces. But they pose many additional risks if not used correctly. More times than not, the risks of using a space heater outweigh the benefits.

First, we know (or at least should know) that any heating appliance is generally hot. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that more than 25,000 residential fires every year are associated with the use of space heaters, causing more than 300 deaths. An estimated 6,000 persons receive hospital emergency room care for burn injuries caued by contact with the surfaces of space heaters.

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shandaken ambulance service

Rich Muellerleile

town column

space heaters

The Watershed Post Half-Hour News Hour: Shotguns and Time Banks

This week on the Watershed Post Half-Hour News Hour, we talk with Anna Moschovakis and Tianna Kennedy, the founders of Catskills Time, a "local time bank" that aims to build a new system of exhange based on time, not money.

We'll also discuss the big news story of the week: a terrifying encounter on a Windham hiking trail.

Listen live to today's show at two times by clicking the links below, or hear the archived Mp3 at the bottom of this post:

1pm: WIOX 91.3FM

3pm: WGXC 90.7FM

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Watershed Post Half-Hour News Hour

time bank

Catskils Time