News

Roxbury’s Victorian Ghost Coach emerges from the shadows on Saturday evening, October 25, to take its intrepid passengers on a spectral moonlit quest in this historic hamlet.
Roxbury’s rich history is a natural breeding ground for spooky melodrama, legend and secrets told only from the grave. Such notorious Victorian horrors as Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden have also been known to “resort” to this storied hamlet — expect some haunting “cameo” apparitions!

By Marion Hohn
The Catskill Mountains, in all their fall splendor, were alive with the sound of German music Saturday when members of the German-American Club of the Northern Catskills held their ninth annual Oktoberfest at Belleayre’s Discovery Lodge in Highmount.
More than 700 people enjoyed an authentic Bavarian celebration complete with music by Bud Gramer, the Adlers and folk dancing demonstrations by Germania Almrausch.  Bratwurst and Leberkaes were served with homemade potato salad and sauerkraut as well as hot pretzels, Black Forest cake and other German specialties.

By Matthew J. Perry
While The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner spoke volumes before the state assembly at an October 15th public hearing in Albany, New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) representative presented the equivalent of a few sound bites.
DEP Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush followed DEC’s Peter Grannis to the microphone and spoke for less than 10 minutes. The questioning period that followed was also brief. Grannis, by comparison, testified for nearly two hours.

By Patricia Adams
Roxbury held a meeting Monday to hear public comments about the historic preservation district proposed by Roxbury’s preservation commission. The district, which closely follows the hamlet’s 2003 listing on State and National Register of Historic Places, is the first step in establishing basic standards to protect the hamlet’s significant historic properties and its historic character.

By Jay Braman Jr.
A local businessman, who has tried unsuccessfully for almost a decade to get permission to develop a water harvesting system in Phoenicia, is trying again. Andrew Poncic, who last year had his permit voided by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, is now seeking an interpretation of Town of Shandaken zoning laws by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Margaretville – Misty the goat is a big hit at Mountainside Residential Care Center.
The dwarf goat has been making regular visits to the long-term care facility since April as part of Mountainside’s Pet Therapy program. Residents have quickly grown to love Misty and look forward to her visits. Misty belongs to Mountainside’s Activities Director Kathy Roberts. Misty was born in April and Kathy first brought in the tiny four-pound goat when her pet was just 11 days old.

Margaretville – October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the staff at Margaretville Hospital is encouraging all women to have breast cancer screenings. It is estimated that 182,460 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed each year in women and 1,990 new cases in men. The estimated number of deaths in women annually is 40,480 and 450 for men.

By Matthew J. Perry
By a vote of 17 to 1, the Delaware County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday for a resolution that pushes against proposals to close the New York City watershed to natural gas drilling.
Supervisors were free-wheeling both in defense of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which regulates drilling, and with criticism for interests that have called recently for moratoriums on gas exploration within the watershed.
“Let the DEC do its job,” said Hamden Supervisor Wayne Marshfield. “We don’t need big bullies like the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) pushing us around. It’s just wrong for one municipality to try to control another. The DEC has been so diligent.”

By Matthew J. Perry
ProAct, Inc., a subsidiary of Kinney Drugs, pitched the Delaware County Board of Supervisors Wednesday with a plan that could realize savings on prescription drugs for thousands of uninsured and underinsured residents. While the board expressed interest in the plan, no action will be taken until the county attorney has reviewed and approved a contract with ProAct.
The product, a discount card that would be sent out in mass mailings and made available at pharmacy counters, would cost the county nothing beyond an endorsement. David Warner, ProAct’s representative, described the discount card plan as “a way to introduce ourselves to the community.” Under questioning by the board, Warner acknowledged that in providing the service, ProAct would hope to contract with the county in its main business, which is managing prescription plans for county employees.

A Fleischmanns junkyard owner has pleaded guilty to charges of fifth-degree insurance fraud and second-degree offering a false instrument for filing and was fined and given a conditional discharge. William Hrazanek, 61, was allowed to plea to the reduced charges in Delaware County Court stemming from his arrest in February. He was originally accused of fraudulently insuring and registering vehicles for illegal aliens.