The polls are in: As of this post, the county Boards of Elections have posted election results on the web, with only a few scattered precincts yet to be reported.
Click the links below to find out how your town fared:
From 9pm to 12:15am, we discussed election results with readers and fellow reporters as they came in on a CoverItLive liveblog session. Check out our archived conversation here.
First off: If you haven't voted yet, go out there and do it! You can look up your ballot (or, in Sullivan County, a list of candidates) by choosing your town from our five-county Election Guide. For many towns, we've also included links to local news coverage, candidate websites and Facebook pages, and more.
Tonight at 9pm, you can follow along with the Watershed Post via CoverItLive, as we get real-time election results from across our five-county area.
At 11pm, tune in to WIOX at 91.3 on the radio dial in Roxbury, or livestreaming at wioxradio.org, where our own Julia Reischel will be reporting election results live on the air.
Photo by Flickr user Ann Douglas. Published under Creative Commons license.
This year, voters go to the polls on November 8. Because it's an odd year, it's local-election season, with most towns in the Catskills and across New York State electing supervisors, town board members and other municipal leaders.
We've assembled a town-by-town guide to local elections throughout the Catskills. For towns in Ulster, Schoharie, Delaware and Greene counties, we have scanned in and posted sample ballots that feature the slate of candidates exactly as you will see them at the polls on Tuesday. These sample ballots come from each county's Board of Elections. (We're missing sample ballots for Sullivan County because we weren't able to drive there and collect the ballots in time, but we have posted a comprehensive list of all the candidates running for office in the county.)
Photo of old clocks by Flickr user servus. Published under Creative Commons license.
Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour tonight: Daylight Saving Time ends at 2am on Sunday, November 6.
Merrimack Patch editor Carol Robidoux writes today that Daylight Saving has been the subject of much controversy in the U.S. over the last century, especially in rural areas:
By the end of WWI, city dwellers learned to love daylight saving, [Daylight Saving expert David] Prerau said. But country folk, still in tune with nature's clock, became disgruntled once they realized they'd actually have to rise before the sun if they were to get their goods on outbound trains that, under daylight saving, left town an hour earlier.
"Rural people bombarded Congress with requests to repeal daylight saving time," Prerau said.
Above: This year's ballot in the town of Ashland, in Greene County, in which all races are uncontested.
Maybe it's the result of apathy. Maybe it's due to powerful endorsements from town leaders. Whatever the reason, 70 percent of the races in this year's Greene County election aren't contests at all.
Our analysis of the ballots available from the Greene County Board of Elections on the Greene County website shows that of the 70 races in Greene County's elections this year, 48 only have one candidate running.
That means that 54 candidates (some races elect more than 1 candidate for a position) are basically assured victory, as long as a single person votes for them. (This is unless a successful write-in candidate wins.)
Voters in town elections will only play a role in selecting 22 of the 70 races on the ballots this year. Six of the 14 towns in Greene County have all of their candidates running unopposed. Only one town in Greene County -- Cairo -- has an election where all seats are being contested.
The Phoenicia Library's temporary location at the Maverick West building on Ava Maria Drive. Photo from the Phoenicia, NY website.
On Election Day this year, voters in Shandaken will be deciding on Proposition 414. It's a measure to increase town funding for the Phoenicia Public Library by $11,000 -- a sum equal to each homeowner kicking in an additional $3 annually toward the Library’s operating budget.
Public libraries are almost universally appreciated in concept. In reality, though, that appreciation doesn’t always translate into a willingness to spend what is needed for a library to provide the level of service that a community wants and/or has grown accustomed to. That becomes especially true when times are hard, and most would agree that times are hard right now.
Painting by local artist Alix Travis. One of several dozen items donated by local artists and craftspeople via the Catskill Mountain Artisans' Guild for a raffle to raise funds for flood relief.
It all started with a quilt. On September 4, with Margaretville still clogged with debris from Tropical Storm Irene and the National Guard still stationed in front of their Main Street storefront, the Catskill Mountain Artisans Guild decided to pitch in for flood relief. Guild member Claire Herz donated a quilt, and the Guild began selling $10 raffle tickets on Main Street.
Before long, the fundraiser took on a life of its own. Dozens of artworks were donated by Guild members, and jeweler Barbara Petrini built an online gallery to showcase the pieces and sell raffle tickets online.
This weekend, the Artisans Guild is preparing to raffle off dozens of donated pieces from its member artists and craftspeople, with the proceeds going to local flood relief via the MARK Project.
Photo from Prattsville Museum website.
Beginning Friday, November 4, and continuing through Sunday, November 6, workshops will be held to develop long term recovery plans for Prattsville. Residents are completing a survey (available online as well) and are asked to join one of three resident-led subcommittees: economic development, housing, or community services.
WRIP's Jay Fink has posted the following details on the station's Facebook page:
Please complete the Community Survey: Share Your Opinions.
Above: Two of Michelle MacNaught's pieces.
This week on the Watershed Post Half-Hour News Hour, we talk with Michelle MacNaught, a 21-year-old DeLancey native and artist who was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer a year ago. In the year of chemotherapy and treatment that has followed, MacNaught has devoted herself to her art, making beautiful and haunting woodcuts, etching and drawings inspired by her struggle with cancer.
MacNaught's work is being exhibited in a new book, "Michelle MacNaught," and in an exhibit opening on November 15 at the Leo Koenig Inc. Projekte gallery in Manhattan. We are honored to have her as our guest on the show today.
Update: Michelle was unable to join us for today's broadcast, although we did discuss her art and upcoming gallery show on today's show. We hope to have Michelle on as a guest on a future show soon.
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:
