NewsShed: Obama plans an upstate tour

Above: Fresh-harvested garlic and handmade garlic roasters from Barber's Farm, a family farm in the Schoharie County town of Middleburgh. This Saturday, August 17, Barber's and over 20 other local farms are participating in Schoharie County Family Farm Day, a countywide celebration of local agriculture that will feature farm tours, tastes of local produce and more. 

Happy Monday, Catskills. Today's NewsShed covers a little extra ground: We got busy last week and missed a couple of installments. (Upon reflection, we really ought to invest in a crystal ball to let us know when widespread local flood warnings are going to turn out to be no big deal, like they did last Friday.)

By early Monday morning, the Catskills already had its blockbuster news story of the week: A standoff on Sunday in the town of Bovina between an armed gunman and law enforcement, which ended in the gunman's apparent suicide

In less dramatic, but still important, news: The town of Blenheim now has its own website at blenheimny.org. Bravo, Blenheim.

President Barack Obama is planning a bus tour of upstate New York next week, the Times Union reports. The White House hasn't revealed exactly where the President will visit. 

Maybe not Otsego County, where Obama's face was used as a target in a dartboard carnival game at the county fair a couple of weeks ago.

Speaking of county fairs: The Delaware County Fair kicked off today in Walton, and runs through Saturday. Headliners Montgomery Gentry will be playing on Saturday -- and if you're excited about that, you may want to check out a ticket giveaway from the National Bank of Delaware County.

Walmart is coming to Ellenville. Will a new megastore help the little Ulster County village or hurt it? As usual, the answer you get depends on who you ask.

The Catskill Mountains are full of bears. Huge, furry, hungry bears who like tubing, pastrami and clothing-optional swimming holes. (Not to be confused with Ursus americanus, another species of wildlife native to the region.)

Hunting, fishing and trapping licenses for the upcoming 2013-2014 season are now on sale from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The village of Athens is thinking about legalizing bowhunting within village limits.

Back in March, the area around Margaretville and Arkville got a new permanent cell phone tower, with 4G service from Verizon. Last week, AT&T announced that they were expanding their wireless service to the tower as well.

The owner of the Pinegrove Ranch and Family Resort in Kerhonkson is starring in an NBC reality show about shark fishing.

The owner of the Bavarian Manor Country Inn in Purling is really proud of his new solar hot-water system

Congressman Chris Gibson visited the Daily Freeman's office last week, and held a livestreamed Q&A with reporter Ariel Zangla. Topics covered: The farm bill, immigration, gun control, healthcare, and a zinger or two aimed in the direction of Gibson's potential Democratic challenger, Sean Eldridge.

Gibson has also been making some noise about upstate voices needing to be heard more clearly on the issue of New York City's "Filtration Avoidance Determination," a ten-year plan for the management of the city's unfiltered watershed that is currently due for a midterm review from the state Department of Health. Stay tuned -- we're hoping to hear some important news on that review soon.

A Narrowsburg 19-year-old was killed in a horrific one-car crash on Route 97 near Callicoon last week.

On Saturday, a 20-year-old Irish man visiting the U.S. on a student work visa fell into the Delaware River near Lumberland while rafting with colleagues; he is missing and presumed drowned.

NewsShed, our snappy little weekday digest of news, weather and hot bloggy goodness from around the Catskills, is a new item here at the WP. Got a hot tip or a photo for the NewsShed? Send it to editor@watershedpost.com.

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