If you missed homegrown Delaware County twang-rockers Esquela at the Autumn Cafe last night, you'll get your chance. The band is celebrating the release of The Owl Has Landed, their upcoming album from Bovina Records, with a couple of back-to-back parties: one for flatlanders at The Bowery Electric on April 8, and one "607 style" at the Quarter Moon in Delhi on April 9.
Here's a live clip from last night's show: "Here And Now."
The proposed conference center development for Partition Street in the village of Saugerties was debated last night at a long-awaited public meeting of the village's Planning Board. Today, the conversation is still going on at the comment boards at the Daily Freeman, which covered the event. Particularly at issue is whether the project will include public access to a waterfall over a dam on the Esopus Creek.
A commenter calling himself 1950kevin writes:
[T]he only " economic benefts" from this project will be reaped by the 3 owners. The rest of the village can only lose.
Ulsterresident10 took a more nuanced view:
According to a press release sent by Congressman Maurice Hinchey's office today, Gov. Paterson can't possibly close 41 state parks, because federal law doesn't allow it.
[T]he head of the National Park Service (NPS) told the congressman this week that the state cannot move forward with such a plan for parks that receive federal funding. The clarification from NPS Director Jon Jarvis, which came in response to a question from Hinchey during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior hearing, lays the groundwork for a dramatic reversal of the governor's plans since most of those parks in New York receive federal funding and must remain open to the public.
Most of the parks on the Governor's list of doom have gotten federal funds through the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, the release states.
Come for the fresh guacamole, stay for the pineapple-infused tequila. Hudson Valley Magazine's Lynn Hazlewood checks out Gaby's Cafe, a new-ish Mexican place in Ellenville, and declares it delectable:
It’s a casual little place, painted in bright, fruity colors with a corrugated steel bar trimmed in lime green where the chef does his thing. The owner, Genaro Garcia, makes that guacamole at your tableside using a traditional molcajete, a mortar carved from volcanic rock, like the ones the Aztecs used back in the day. Guacamole comes spicy, medium or mild. Applying the Goldilocks principle (spicy = too spicy; mild = not spicy enough; medium = just right), I can now report that the medium preparation has a pleasant tang, and that fresh cilantro can brighten a dreary day.
But it isn't photographer and Flickr user Richardm740 of Stamford. (Photo reproduced with permission.)
Aaaaand the prize goes to the Shawangunk Journal, for yesterday's story on flooding in Wawarsing: "Pump and Circumstance."
Part of Wawarsing is perched atop New York City's leaking Delaware Aqueduct. State senator John Bonacic is trying to get approval for state funds to buy some of Wawarsing's soggiest houses from their beleaguered owners. Here's a video of the senator discussing his bill:
Something strange haunts a certain house on North Manheim Boulevard in New Paltz. You may have noticed it. One recent commentor on the Ulster Publishing forum did:
If you are driving on Henry Dubois Road in New Paltz where it intersects with North Manheim, there is a flat roof one-story house that almost always has a DEAD BLACK DUCK/TURKEY hanging upside down from [its] neck (dead!) on top of the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [They've] got this white pvc pipe thing holding it up. Does anyone know what's up with this dude ? Is this some witchcraft thing that they practice or something ???
According to Times Record-Herald story from last year, it's not witchcraft. It's a dead vulture. (Click on the link -- there's a photo.) It's part of a federal program designed scare away the plagues of vultures that have made Manheim their home for years:
The EPA announced yesterday that the agency will conduct a two-year, $1.9 million, peer-reviewed study of the effects of horizontal natural gas drilling on drinking water.
Bring it on, gas companies say--but the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that shares in natural-gas stocks got clobbered yesterday.
Long Island Democrat Steve Levy jumps fence, joins GOP, declares he's running for governor. This should be fun.
Steve's Digicams, a digital camera site whose members often share photographs in the forums, has some incredible recent pictures of the Ashokan from Samsonville Road. Check it out.
