Hazards of living next to Opus 40

The Watershed Post editorial team took advantage of an unseasonably warm afternoon to swing by Opus 40 yesterday, which, we discovered, is closed in the winter except by appointment. (And, we assume, except for prospective buyers.) But while we were in the driveway, we noticed that the driveway next door is mightly sick of misdirected Opus 40 visitors.

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Trustbuster wants to hear from NY dairy farmers

Federal antitrust top cop Christine Varney has been talking to farmers across the nation lately about anti-competitive agricultural markets. On March 29, she'll be at Genesee Community College to get an earful from New York's dairy farmers.

Farmers apparently have Senator Chuck Schumer to thank for the visit.

Varney is making the trip at Schumer’s request, according to WICZ, a Binghamton, N.Y., television station. “For too long farmers have been receiving rock-bottom prices for their product, while prices have not dropped commensurately for consumers at the stores,” Schumer said. “It just doesn’t add up.”

Shad fishing in the Hudson: Banned

Populations of American shad have gotten so depleted that fishermen (and fisherwomen, naturally) may no longer fish for them in the Hudson River, the DEC announced today. Restrictions are also being put on shad fishing in the Delaware.

"Unfortunately, the Hudson River shad stock has declined dramatically for more than a decade, and even restrictions enacted in 2008 have not triggered a rebound," state Environmental Commissioner Pete Grannis said in a prepared statement. "As a result ... (the ban) is the best way to try to prevent this historically important species from permanently vanishing from the Hudson River ecosystem. It's not a step we take lightly, and we will continue to work on a process for reopening the fishery if and when the shad population recovers to sustainable levels.".

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Watertown balks at Otsego County frack fluid

City councilors in the Northern New York city of Watertown are considering stepping in to prevent a local wastewater treatment plant from accepting hydrofracking fluid, the Watertown Daily Times reports.

"My feeling all along is that this is a parochial issue taking place in Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier," Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham said. "I don't think this is our problem, and it doesn't make sense to ship it all the way up here."

About 35,000 gallons of the fluid--which is coming from a Utica shale well in the town of Maryland in Otsego County--have already been treated by the plant.

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Hiker's death a loss for outdoor community

Two hikers were lost in deep snow on Blackhead Mountain over the weekend. Virginian Alberto Risenberg was rescued on Sunday, but Poughkeepsie's Seth Lyon died on the mountain.

View From The Top, a Northeast outdoors online community, remembers Lyon in a thread on one of their forums.

If you hiked the AT in southern Dutchess, you may have come across Seth... You definately came across his handy work as he was a dedicated trail maintainer. He was a key memeber of the RPHCabin Trail Club as well.

Peace to Seth...Peace to his family.

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Ulster County legislature endorses Crossroads resort

Last night, Ulster county legislators voiced their approval of the latest plan for a resort to be built near the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center by Dean Gitter, a developer with Crossroads Ventures LLC. The Daily Freeman reports that 27 legislators voted in favor of the oft-redesigned project, which has been in the works in various forms since 1999, despite the fact that they have no say over whether the development goes foward:

More than 100 spectators packed the legislative chambers and spilled out into the hallway as more than two dozen people spoke on this issue during a public comment session that lasted more than one hour. Most of the local residents speaking called on lawmakers to withhold their support of the project, which is still undergoing review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.

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Parents rally in Delhi to oust principal

A few dozen Delaware Academy parents and students gathered at the American Legion in Delhi on Monday, March 15 to ask the state to remove Richard Hughes from his post as the Delaware Academy Central School High School principal.

The turnout, of about 35 people, was far smaller than the organizers, Sandy and Mike Dacey and their lawyer, Andrew Van Buren of Hobart, had expected. Their Facebook group demanding Hughes’s resignation has over 300 fans.

“It’s a little disheartening that more people didn’t turn out for this,” Van Buren told the group. “It is an atmosphere of fear.”

Controversy has surrounded Hughes since he allegedly asked the New York State Police to shut down a party held by DA seniors on school grounds last June. Hughes, who was the principal of the middle school at the time, became the high school’s principal soon afterwards.

To market, to market

If you're a farmer, odds are you don't have $100,000 in your back pocket for an M.B.A. But you've got business problems that would keep Warren Buffett up at night. How do you get your perishable wares to eaters (and, of course, buyers) of food? Finding the best path for a gallon of fresh milk or a crisp sweet apple to take from farm to table is a riddle that vexes longtime farmers and young guns alike. It's also the topic of Farm to Market Connection, a networking conference that's being held in Liberty this Sunday. We tracked down event organizer Challey Comer, farm to market manager of Pure Catskills, a local food campaign run by the Watershed Agricultural Council.

Watershed Post: Local food is a really hot topic right now. Is there any common ground between, say, young Brooklynites raising bees on rooftops and seventh-generation upstate New York dairy farmers?

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Exploding vehicles of Gilboa are not what they seem

Gilboa resident James E. Papas was arrested last week on charges that he intentionally set fire to his trailer and claimed he'd been blasted out of the window by an exploding furnace. A press release from the New York State Insurance Department:

Papas faces charges of third degree insurance fraud and third degree arson. He was released pending a hearing in Schoharie County Court. He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted.

James isn't the only Papas to be arrested recently for allegedly committing smokin' hot insurance fraud.

Papas's arrest occurred two weeks after the arrest of his wife, Charlene L. Papas. She is accused of intentionally burning her car on Jan. 7. She also faces charges of insurance fraud and arson.

Via the Schoharie Tattler.

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