Mailbag

To The Editor:
Gassing up our car or buying food is a very painful and stressful experience these days.  Heating our home this winter with fuel oil getting close to $5 will be even more painful. Unfortunately, many of our Senior Citizens, on fixed incomes, will be financially and emotionally devastated by fuel oil at $5 a gallon - many will become physically ill as a result of reduced heat and food.

To The Editor:
Today I was feverishly painting to have my art work ready for all the shows that are coming up this summer. I finally had a day where there would be no interruptions. But, I could not continue to paint because my mind was reeling and I found myself thinking about only one thing. I had just read the letter in the “Mailbag” by Andrew Weiss and it made me sick.

To The Editor:
A recent letter to the editor from Matt Frisch was so full of irony I had to respond. He says that Partners for Progress is using fear tactics in its effort to support the expansion of Belleayre Mountain Ski Center and the construction of the Belleayre Resort.

To The Editor:
The Movies on Main Street that delighted so many area-residents last summer and was scheduled again this summer, but in the new Pavilion, has been cancelled. Jonathan Starch, co-owner of the Galli-Curci Theater, decided not to proceed because the Margaretville Village Board, in a letter to him, placed conditions on the project that make it impossible. The grounds for these conditions turn out to be totally unfounded and the process by which the village board arrived at them was completely unethical and dominated by a blatant conflict of interest.

To The Editor:
It is our belief that a more suitable engineering solution can be found in order to preserve the history and natural beauty of the existing structure at Susan’s Pleasant Pheasant Farm. We love to drive over there, day or night, and feel the special ambience of the establishment. The costly options presented to the Kellys by the town are almost not attainable.

To The Editor:
First, they claimed their proposed development would bring “more jobs/lower taxes.” Now that it’s generally known that Emerson’s employment record isn’t exactly unblemished and the fact that mega-development always results in higher taxes due to increased services and inflated land prices, Crossroads/Partners is using fear as their latest weapon to move their flawed plan forward.

To The Editor:
As noted in a News story last week, Whitman Electric, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against a long list of organizations here in Shandaken. This matter has been a long-standing contractual dispute in which Whitman says it performed according to contract and we say they did not. We thought this matter had been settled out of court. When given an opportunity by Mr. Braman to comment we declined, on the advice of our attorney, because we thought it was settled. That would have been to the advantage of everyone named in this case.

To The Editor:
As you reported last week, I am involved in the attempt to protect and safely recover the baby bison and, as an animal-welfare advocate, I am very upset with the senseless slaughter of the bison cow with a calf at her side. Because of the unnecessary and hasty killing of the mother bison, we as a community must now ask ourselves what shall be the fate of her calf who was last seen roaming free across the countryside.

To The Editor:
The Bovina Town Board recently approved spending $800,000 for a highway garage complex on a one-half acre parcel on Main Street in the historically designated hamlet of Bovina. In light of intense community opposition and a petition that would have forced a successful vote against the plan, the board has now rescinded proposal 2008-85.

To The Editor:
Irony, sweet irony! The Delaware County Board of Supervisors gave approval for an auditing firm to oversee the financial activities of the Child Support Collection Unit and this firm failed to notice a discrepancy to the tune of more than $52,000. The majority of the board of supervisors clutch at their hearts and rush to a “smoke-filled” back room if the treasurer’s office misplaces a paper clip. Bev Shields and her treasurer’s office have never once been touched by a scandal or failed to pass state audits with flying colors, but the treasurer is treated with the same amount of respect by Msrs. Eisel, Donnelly and others as an axe murderer or a member of the Jersey mob!