News
By Julia Reischel on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011 - 11:58 am
Above: Some of the 100 starving llamas rescued by Wes Laraway in Schoharie County last week. Photo from the Northeast Llama Rescue blog.
A massive cross-country llama rescue operation coordinated by a Schoharie-county "llama whisperer" is making headlines... Read more
By Lissa Harris on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011 - 10:47 am
The rural Catskills have never been an easy place to do business. When the rest of the country is popping champagne corks and watching the stock market boom, the good times always seem to pass us by. And when recessions hit, the already-hungry local... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011 - 10:05 am
The Oneonta Daily Star printed an emphatic call for New York to legalize gay marriage today, in a strongly-worded editorial that cited the First Amendment and Elton John:
Singer Elton John, who is openly gay, said he is tired of being treated like a... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Friday, Feb. 4, 2011 - 9:29 am
WBNG Action News is reporting that a fire engulfed a Hancock trailer home this morning. Although the trailer didn't have a smoke detector installed, the article reports that "2 adults and three kids living at the home made it out safe after noticing the... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 - 3:24 pm
The staff of the Hanford Mills Museum cuts ice blocks in preparation for Saturday's Ice Harvest Festival. Image from the Hanford Mills Facebook page.
Ice used to be a crop in the days before refrigeration, and at the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 - 2:56 pm
Eager to put that whole "Willy Wonka's chocolate river" thing behind it, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection issued a press release today stating that the Esopus Creek is running clear again.
The DEP's practice of releasing turbid... Read more
By Lissa Harris on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 - 2:42 pm
In case you've forgotten about the holiday, the Hudson Valley Geologist is here to remind you.
Imbolc -- traditionally celebrated on the halfway point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, which this year falls on February 3 -- is an... Read more
By Lissa Harris on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 - 2:30 pm
Upstate Oddities, a blog dedicated to photos of the weird and wonderful things its author stumbles across in her forays around the Catskills, has a post this week dedicated to the Shandaken Theatrical Society, housed in the old Shandaken Oddfellows Hall.... Read more
By Lissa Harris on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 - 11:50 am
While the demise (again) of Liberty's Munson Diner is making sad news today in the New York Times, there are plenty of more hopeful things afoot in Sullivan County as well. A couple of upcoming events for those interested in making Sullivan County a nicer... Read more
By Lissa Harris on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 - 10:21 am
When news broke of the death of 15-year-old Naomi Miklic -- who was fatally shot in a car in Owego on Monday, an incident in which two Cherry Valley men now face charges -- police initially said the teenager was from Cherry Valley. In fact, the Utica... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011 - 9:39 am
This week, Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled his budget plan for New York, which is designed to close a $10 billion gap without raising taxes.
This means cuts, cuts, cuts.
Local schools districts stand to see their budgets sliced by ten to twenty percent... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 6:15 pm
Opponents of former governor David Paterson's plan to allow the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian tribe to build a resort casino in Sullivan County testified at a hearing in Albany today. Critics of the plan are hoping to persuade Governor Andrew Cuomo that the... Read more
By Lissa Harris on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 5:35 pm
Good news: Goldenheart Unidiversity's 'No Bees No Food' project, which we profiled earlier this year, came in first in an online voting drive to receive $5,000 in funding from the Pepsi Refresh Everything contest.
Project mastermind David Turan, cofounder... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 4:00 pm
Want to raise some pheasants this year? The New York Department of Environmental Conservation gives away day-old pheasant chicks every spring to anyone with a brooding pen and department approval. The idea is to release the full-grown birds in the fall in... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 3:41 pm
The New York State Department of Labor's WARN system, which requires employers to provide 90 days' notice of layoffs, has a filing from the Oneida Daily Dispatch announcing that 17 workers will be laid off from the newspaper on March 22.
The Dispatch,... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 3:07 pm
The Times Herald-Record and the Daily Freeman both have the sad story -- Mount St. Alphonsus, the the castle-like seminary and retreat center on the banks fo the Hudson in Esopus, will close next year.
Photo from the Mount St. Alphonsus website.
By Julia Reischel on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 2:45 pm
This just in from the Ulster County Sheriff's Office: An unnamed 28-year-old woman reportedly has experienced what might be the world's worst employment interview in the town of Esopus.
According to a press release (read it in full below), the woman was... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 1:30 pm
The New York State Police are warning that creative con artists have been targeting the region with the goal of getting unsuspecting would-be good Samaritans to wire lots of money far away.
The first scam, according to a State Police press release, has... Read more
By Julia Reischel on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 12:45 pm
A Kingston house partially succumbed to the weight of snow and ice on its roof this morning, the Daily Freeman reports. Around 9am, the porch of the Midtown home collapsed:
The Kingston Fire Department said the collapse occurred about 9:12 a.m. and that... Read more
By Lissa Harris on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 - 9:49 am
From the Daily Freeman:
Argentine immigrant and Saugerties restaurant owner Emilio Maya has, for the second time, received a one-year stay of deportation, according to U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey.
Hinchey, D-Hurley, said in an e-mail on Tuesday that the... Read more



