Andes

By Matthew J. Perry
Andes Central School will begin 2009 with a search for a permanent replacement for acting superintendent John Bernhardt, who will step down at the end of the school year.

By Matthew J. Perry
When Governor Paterson unveiled an austerity budget last week that would include $9 billion in budget cuts, there was plenty of pain to go around. Education administrators, noting a proposed $700 million reduction in state aid to schools, could be forgiven if they felt singled out for abuse.

Charges are still pending following a fatal accident on Dec. 13 in the Town of Andes.
State police said this week that no tickets have been issued in a Route 28 accident that killed 31-year-old Jon Church of Wells Bridge.

By Julia Green

By Julia Green
Downsville 43, Andes 31 (Dec. 10)
Point guard Mariah Ruff scored 14 points for the host Mountaineers and Karli Tait added nine rebounds and four steals when Andes played host to the Downsville Eagles last Wednesday.
“I thought we did OK early,” said Head Coach Jeff Rhone. “I thought we defended them fairly well in the first half and then in the course of the game we couldn’t stay with them. They were pretty athletic and we just didn’t defend well at all in the second half and especially in the third quarter. And they totally out-rebounded us.”
The Eagles outscored the Mountaineers 18-9 in the first half, including a 14-3 run in the second quarter.

By Julia Green
Roxbury 65, Gilboa 35 (Dec. 9)
“I thought we played well,” said Roxbury Head Coach Tom Faraci of his team’s convincing victory over Gilboa last Tuesday. “We came out with some energy and played some decent defense.”
The Rockets posted a 65-35 Delaware League victory over the host Wildcats, led by senior Ryan Skipper who tallied 29 points for RCS. DaVaun Morgan added 13 points and Tim Douglas tallied 12.

By Julia Green
More than holiday 200 wreaths were laid at the headstones of veterans in three Andes cemeteries last weekend as an Andes committee, led by Carol Tubbs, participated in a observance that mirrors a much larger movement.
Tubbs, as well as a number of Andes residents and a community service group from Andes Central School, laid the wreaths by the headstones Saturday morning to honor veterans in a ritual that happens nationwide on a much larger scale.

By Matthew J. Perry
Two members of the state’s office of real property services traveled to Andes Tuesday to present an award to Tina Moshier, the town’s tax assessor, at the town board’s monthly meeting.
Arnold Jones and Jim Laponte, managers in the state’s real property Newburgh office, praised Moshier and Andes in general for their 2008 effort to reassess local property values and update information on land parcels that previously had been spotty.

By Matthew J. Perry
Andes residents kicked into the holiday season Saturday with a town-wide effort that celebrated the past, the present, and of course, a certain gent from the North Pole.
In what is hoped will become a yearly extravaganza, local merchants teamed with the Andes Society for History and Culture to create an attraction that celebrated both the season and the town.

By Julia Green
Roxbury 64, Margaretville 35
It was as if two different teams were alternating quarters for the Margaretville Central School Blue Devils last Wednesday night, when the visiting Roxbury Rockets defeated MCS on its home court, 64-35.
The Blue Devils, who opened the scoring with five points including a three-pointer from junior guard Mitch VanKeuren, led the Rockets until less than two minutes remained in the first quarter, when they relinquished the lead and never regained it.