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This Memorial Day, bike the Catskills

By Andrea Girolamo
5/18/12 - 6:26 pm

Above: Cycling on some Catskills roads. Photo via the Catskill Mountain Cycling Club Facebook page.

Cyclists who ride the Catskills know this is a perfect place to get on the bike for a quick 20-miler. And what better time to do it than this Memorial Day weekend, when two of our local cycling clubs are offering planned rides for cycling enthusiasts?

'Tour de Pepacton'

Billy Allison, of the Catskill Mountain Cycling Club, is the organizing brains behind this year’s Tour de Pepacton, a ride to benefit Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care, on Sunday, May 27.  Read more

Onteora school election results show a deeply divided district

By Lissa Harris
5/16/12 - 12:53 pm
  Tony Fletcher Cybele Nielsen Rebecca Balzac Laurie Osmond
Shandaken/Lexington 346 56 55 332
Olive/Marbletown 131 399 410 134
Woodstock 281 146 102 273
Hurley 149 223 195 133

Table of results in the May 15 Onteora school board election, broken down by town. Top vote-getters in each town highlighted in yellow. Data from the Onteora Central School District's website.

If you're a parent in the massive Onteora school district, there's a good chance that how you feel about today's election results reflects where you live.  Read more

Shandaken to ask NYC for more time on Phoenicia sewer project

By Lissa Harris
5/15/12 - 5:57 pm

Facing a looming August 6 deadline to form a sewer district in Phoenicia, uncertainty about the scope of the proposed sewer plant, and public outcry against the project, the Shandaken town board has opted to ask New York City for an extension on the project rather than proceed with plans to hold a public referendum.

In a special meeting held today, the town board voted unanimously to draft a letter by the end of the week to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), asking that the August 6 deadline be extended.

The deadline is included in contracts between the town of Shandaken, the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC), and the DEP, written to govern the awarding of a block grant to the town that would cover most of the costs of designing and building a sewer plant to serve Phoenicia.

In their most recent action, the town appears to be taking the CWC's advice. Shortly before the meeting, CWC executive director Alan Rosa sent a letter to Shandaken supervisor Rob Stanley. In it, Rosa writes that he believes there is no way for the town to meet the August 6 deadline, and that the town should ask for an extension:  Read more

After parent outcry, Onteora backs off plan to take music out of the school day

By Lynn Sloneker
5/15/12 - 4:36 pm

As voters head to the polls for school elections today, parents in the Onteora Central School District are still upset over the district's abrupt about-face on a plan to move the elementary music program from the school day to the early morning hours before school begins.

After months of sustained protests, and with an already controversial school board election looming, district administrators recently decided to back away from the plan. Many parents say the changes would have significantly undermined the school's music program.

The proposal to move music to the early mornings was based on a concern over the loss of instructional time during the school day, superintendent Phyllis McGill said. She said parents expressed a desire for both meaningful instruction with challenging content, and music. The plan was “certainly a hot issue for the parents in the shared decision-making meeting, but they understood what we were trying to do and how hard it is to do,” McGill said.  Read more

School elections today

By Lissa Harris
5/15/12 - 9:57 am

A reminder: New Yorkers go to the polls today to vote for school budgets and board members. To find your local polling place, check your school district's website.

Problems at the polls? Let us know at editor@watershedpost.com.

Letter to the Editor: Onteora - Not the time for change

By WP Newsroom
5/11/12 - 1:36 pm

Dear Editor,  Read more

Thousands of rural post offices to reduce hours under new USPS plan

By Lissa Harris
5/10/12 - 11:33 am

Above: A Google map of New York State post offices that will have reduced hours under the new plan. Click on a red dot to get information about a post office's current hours and their planned reduced daily hours. Use the controls on the left to zoom in or out, or click and drag the map with your mouse. For a larger view, click here. Data from the United States Postal Service.   Read more

The SHARP Committee is still distributing Grants to Shandaken residents

By SHARP
5/9/12 - 4:27 pm

 
Thanks to the “Shelter from the Storm” benefit concerts at the UPAC and Levon Helm Studios this past Winter, The SHARP Committee, located in Phoenicia, New York, is still distributing Grants to Shandaken residents for home rehabilitation and other needs associated with the effects of last year’s devastating floods. Up to $2500.00 per home will be awarded to those in need.

Call SHARP at 688-5777 for more information about this or other relief funds available to Shandaken residents.

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Letter to the Editor: What is wrong with Onteora?

By Julia Reischel
5/9/12 - 3:48 pm

Dear Editor,

What is wrong with Onteora?

The Onteora budget is unnecessarily wasteful and caused by many bad decisions made by the current Board of Education.  Although the budget is reduced 1.7%, enrollment is down 2.3 %.  In other words, Onteora’s per pupil cost continues to rise.  Remember that our per pupil cost is already THE HIGHEST of our 16-neighbor districts because of years of inflated budgets approved by these same Board members. Although your school taxes may not rise this year, they should have
fallen.  Adopting another plan would have saved the District millions now and going forward - they could have done a lot better for the taxpayers of this district and they chose not to.  Read more

Letter to the Editor: Onteora School District Vote May15

By Julia Reischel
5/9/12 - 3:35 pm

Dear Editor,


    I write this to the voters to remind you to vote on May 15th, from 2-9 at your local elementary school.  I especially hope that you are planning to vote for me and Cybele Nielsen, but regardless, please take the time to cast your ballot.  If you are still undecided, I invite you to come to the Meet the Candidate night on May 10th , at 7:00 pm at the HS/MS auditorium, moderated by the League of Women Voters.
   Read more

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