Lissa Harris
About us:
Lissa Harris is the founder and publisher of the Watershed Post.
Articles
Mar. 21, 2011
Photo: Some of the heavy-duty equipment deployed in the perpetual fight to keep Laura Zakotiria-Smith's Wawarsing neighborhood above water. From a photo album on Zakotiria-Smith's Facebook wall.
This just in: New York State lawmakers have agreed to use a... Read more
Mar. 20, 2011
The Albany Roman Catholic Diocese announced yesterday that they have removed former Margaretville priest Robert Purcell from ministry, and placed three Capital-region retired priests on administrative leave, in the wake of recent sexual abuse accusations... Read more
Mar. 19, 2011
Phoenicia LIbrary Fire Damage from Nathaniel Armstrong on Vimeo.
A fire damaged the Phoenicia Library in the wee hours of this morning. Videographer Nathaniel Armstrong says the interior was a complete loss.The Daily Freeman has a few details; stay... Read more
Mar. 19, 2011
While the sugar maple sap is running, weather has a dramatic effect on the end product. Above: Maple syrup made on different days, from warmest to coldest. Photo by Flickr user astanleyjones; published under Creative Commons license.
It might not be as... Read more
Mar. 18, 2011
Sweet Sue's pancakes in happier days. Photo by Flickr user millhouseloves; reproduced with permission.
Sweet Sue's owner Suzanne Taylor says it will be a long time before her famous pancakes are back on the menu.
Last Friday, the Ulster County Department... Read more
Mar. 17, 2011
There's a long and venerable tradition, in American sports, of watching gifted athletes giving their all on television and thinking, "Hey, I could do that." There's even a phrase for it: armchair quarterbacking.
And then there's local snowboarder Elaine... Read more
Mar. 17, 2011
Times Herald-Record reporter Adam Bosch reports on his environment blog that the New York City reservoir system is full to capacity -- plus a little extra. (Not sure exactly how that's possible, but OK.)
The reservoirs currently stand at 101.1 percent... Read more
Mar. 15, 2011
Above: Bocce, a 9-month-old German Shepherd, surveys the high water on Route 299 in New Paltz last week. Photo by Laura Cerrone.
On Friday morning, the Watershed Post team visited a journalism class taught by Times Herald-Record reporter Adam Bosch at... Read more
Mar. 15, 2011
The Times Herald-Record has the details on a 30-year-old Forestburgh woman who fled state troopers on Route 42 last night. Thankfully, the chase ended in an arrest rather than in violence:
[Maryanne] Silverstrim refused to get out of the car and when... Read more
Mar. 15, 2011
As if the emerald ash borer and the Asian longhorned beetle weren't enough: In the last few years, a small, brown, smelly invader has moved into the Hudson Valley. It's Halyomorpha halys, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, and it's after your apple trees.... Read more
Mar. 14, 2011
When a predicted flood last week didn't reach Biblical proportions, Phoenicia residents breathed a sigh of relief. The tiny hamlet in Shandaken has borne the brunt of much of the region's flood damage over the fall and winter, with back-to-back floods in... Read more
Mar. 14, 2011
When it rains in Wawarsing, it pours -- from both above and below, thanks to the leaky Delaware Aqueduct, which has been flooding the basements of a few dozen local houses with depressing regularity for years.
During the most recent floods last week,... Read more
Mar. 12, 2011
Michael Koegel, owner of the Mama’s Boy coffee shop on Main Street in Phoenicia, is still a very fresh face in town. The former Manhattanite moved up to the mountains full-time to open up his shop just last year. But he’s already jumped into small-town... Read more
Mar. 11, 2011
Posted on the Sullivan County website this morning:
County Manager David Fanslau issued the following statement: “As of 8:00 AM there are some County Roads that are flooded, some with shoulder damage from water runoff, and some with mud slides. The... Read more
Mar. 11, 2011
Sidney supervisor Bob McCarthy has declared a state of emergency in the area of the Fowler Finch Dam. Here's the press release we received from Delaware County around 7am:
Town of Sidney Supervisor Robert McCarthy has declared a State of Emergency... Read more
Mar. 10, 2011
Within the last hour, we received press releases from emergency coordinators about flooding predictions for tonight and tomorrow. Here's the Delaware County press release:
The Delaware County Emergency Operations Center was opened at 1300 hours today in... Read more
Mar. 10, 2011
Between the rain and the millions of gallons of water being pumped by the DEP through the leaky Delaware Aqueduct underground, the sump pumps of Wawarsing are working overtime. Adam Bosch of the Times Herald-Record reports today:
Homeowners said floods... Read more
Mar. 9, 2011
Fresh from the New York Times's City Room blog: GOP state senator John Bonacic, whose district includes territory from Delaware, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties, has thrown his support behind a move to extend the so-called "millionaires' tax" in New... Read more
Mar. 9, 2011
Over in Shandaken, Mike O'Neil, Troutmeister -- yes, that does appear to be an official title -- recently issued a plea to the community for money to fund the annual stocking of trout in the Woodland Valley Stream. Troutmeistering is a sacred family... Read more
Mar. 2, 2011
After several years of weighing the evidence, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finally called a halt to its investigation of the eastern cougar -- previously listed as "critically endangered" on the Endangered Species List -- and declared it... Read more