Above: Wolf Lake in Sullivan County, looking pretty spectacular in this recent photo by John of Catskills Photography. If you've got one of these handy, you may want to get in it today.
Thank God it's Friday, Catskills. The weekend is almost upon us -- and so are some thunderstorms, slated to roll into the region on Saturday along with plenty of rain and possibly some hail. After a week of oppressively muggy heat, we'll gladly take frogs and locusts if they promise to cool things down a little.
A reminder: Try to stay cool and hydrated today, and don't do anything strenuous outdoors if you can avoid it. The heat index in eastern Ulster County is slated to hit 105 today, and the rest of the Catskills is still in the grip of a nasty heat wave; today may be the hottest day of it yet. Check on elderly friends and neighbors, make sure pets stay cool, and if you need to, head for an air-conditioned public space. The Ulster County Emergency Services blog has a list of cooling stations in several Ulster County towns.
Good news for flood-affected towns: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that 102 communities will be getting $750 million in federal and state flood mitigation funds through the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program. On the list to receive up to $3 million apiece are many local towns and villages: Ellenville, Hardenburgh, Olive, Rochester, Rosendale, Wawarsing, Woodstock, Middleburgh, Schoharie, Prattsville, Margaretville, Sidney, Shandaken and both towns and villages in New Paltz, Saugerties and Esperance.
Quote of the day goes to Catskill supervisor Joseph Leggio, who was dismayed recently by a rumor that someone had threatened to bring a BB gun into a local town court:
“That just leaves you to realize that there’s people out there doing stupid things.”
How true that is, sir. And now the Catskill town court's getting a metal detector. What's the world coming to?
At another courthouse a little further down the Hudson River in Kingston, a few dozen protestors rallied on Wednesday to speak out about racism, American justice and the George Zimmerman verdict. The Kingston Times has a good story. The Freeman's got video. And the Times Herald-Record has a photo gallery.
Across the Delaware River in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, the Hess Corporation and Newfield Appalachia natural gas companies are pulling out of the area, after five years of waiting fruitlessly for the Delaware River Basin Commission to issue drilling permits. Some landowners are furious. Others are elated.
A planned tourist visitors' center for the Route 97 corridor has moved from the Cochecton Railroad Station to Fort Delaware in Narrowsburg -- and in doing so, apparently lost almost $800,000 in federal and state funding. Whoops.
Busted: A Shandaken town employee who stands accused of embezzling over $20,000 from flood relief funds. Notice to any local officials who may be tempted to stray from the path of righteousness: If you think your town or village or fire department is too small to be audited by state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, think again. The guy's on a roll lately.
Word around town is that Sylvia Rozzelle, Olive's Democratic candidate for town supervisor, doesn't care for modern electronic technology. However the elections turn out this fall, we hope Olive keeps up its snazzy new website.
A local group wants to buy the shuttered Narrowsburg School and turn it into a local food hub. Most of the Tusten town board is okay with that.
About that possibly-contaminated former gas station the Greene County legislature wants to seize for tax delinquency: It's not contaminated, and it never was a gas station, says property owner William Tepper, who is furious about what legislators have been saying about his property.
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 for the NewsShed? Send it to editor@watershedpost.com.
