Last Thursday, October 13, the Sidney Town Board voted to grant the Leatherstocking Gas Company a public franchise agreement, which will allow it to build a natural gas pipeline through Sidney, Coventry, and Bainbridge.

According to a video of the meeting taken by YouTube user NaqshbandiOttoman, the meeting was an unruly one, with scores of Sidney residents protesting the vote with frequent angry interruptions. You can watch the video in full above.

As soon as the meeting began (about 15 minutes into the video), Sidney Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy moved to take a vote on the resolution to approve the Leatherstocking Gas Company's status as a public utility. Town Councilman John P. Schaeffer then made a short statement.

"I want to say I've been solicited much by the people who are opposed to the pipeline," Schaeffer said. "I am, however, a fan of infrastructure for the town of the Sidney."

The dozens of people in the room then erupted into a chant: "Postpone the vote!" "Call the police!"

If you lost your job or gig because of Hurricane Irene or Tropical Storm Lee, you have an extra month to apply for the U.S. Department of Labor's Disaster Unemployment Insurance.

Victims of Lee in Delaware and Ulster counties have until Nov. 14 to apply for assistance, and victims of Irene in Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster have until November 16 to apply. (The time extension for the Lee benefits were just announced yesterday.)

The criteria are broad, so the best way to find out if you qualify is to call. Detailed info from the New York State Department of Labor's website below:

Six weeks after Irene, Dorothy Maffei, the owner of Home Goods in Margaretville, is still coordinating flood relief volunteers in the town of Middletown. She tells us that volunteers are getting pretty thin on the ground, even though the need is still great.

The Watershed Post will be regularly posting Maffei's volunteer needs for Middletown. Right now, here is what is needed. To help out, contact Maffei directly by emailing her at [email protected]. 

We need volunteers this weekend and next:

We continue to need help with cleaning out, ripping out sheetrock and paneling, and with assisting the Sweep Team and the Volunteer Center.

We need people to help with furniture pick-up and delivery. Any people w/ trucks would be great.

We are still in need of sofas and easy chairs that are in excellent shape.

We need people who can shop for specific things in Delhi, Kingston or Oneonta for us.