Pink Pearl apple at Montgomery Place Orchards, an orchard and cidery in Red Hook, NY on the Cider Route. Photo from Montgomery Place's website.

The Apple Project, a scion of local farm advocacy group Glynwood, is sparking a revival of old-school cidermaking in upstate New York and the Hudson Valley. (And by old-school cider, we're referring to what the rest of the world outside of the United States thinks of when they hear the word "cider" -- a tart, effervescent, fermented elixir that bears little resemblance to the sweet brown stuff that comes in plastic half-gallon jugs at the supermarket.)

The Apple Project's founders hope that by encouraging a revival of traditional cidermaking in the Hudson Valley, they can spur the development of a high-value product for local farmers, help increase local apple biodiversity, and encourage farm tourism in the region.

Early this morning, a Trailways bus from Kingston bound for New York City rear-ended a tractor-trailer, leaving the driver hospitalized and nearly half of the bus's 16 passengers with minor injuries. LoHud.com reports:

The trucker told troopers that he slowed down when another driver hestitated coming out of the Sloatsburg rest area, police said. The commuter bus’s front driver’s side then hit the right rear of the tractor-trailer, just across from the Sloatsburg service area.

The 5:35 a.m. accident crushed the driver’s side of the bus cab, trapping driver Dean Vardakis, 57, of Washingtonville, N.Y., inside and injuring his leg and pelvic area, Sgt. John Antonelli said.

“The bus driver was trapped in his seat for a period of time,” Antonelli said.

The Daily Freeman reports that a Saugerties man was aboard the bus, but not among the injured:

A video by food.curated showing damage to Maple Downs Farm, a dairy farm in the Schoharie County town of Middleburgh that was devastated by the recent floods.

On Monday, October 17, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced that $5 million would be made available in grants for replacing farm equipment damaged in the flooding from Irene and Lee.

The grants are limited to $100,000 per farm, and will be used to fund energy-efficient replacements for equipment that is powered by electricity or natural gas. From a press release announcing the program:

On Saturday, October 15, the Occupy Wall Street movement spread to the Chase Bank plaza in New Paltz, where protestors marched, chanted and carried homemade signs decrying corporate control of American politics.

YouTube user kiew0101 took the video above of protestors marching through the streets of New Paltz on Saturday. ("Don't photograph, join us!" one woman exhorts the off-screen videographer around the 3:25 mark.)

The Times Herald-Record estimates that about 125 people participated in the New Paltz demonstration. Some of them did some traveling to participate:

Aggravating, constant tales of huge CEO bonuses drove Nancy Castleman of Olive out to the rally. She wants the government to focus on creating jobs, not lowering taxes.

"I'd like to see everybody who wants a job having one," she said. "I want my grandkids to live the American dream."