Charter members and friends and the public gathered at the Town of Middletown’s Town Hall to view a scale model of the proposed Water Discovery Center (WDC) to be built in Arkville. The model, created by Ryerson Studios in Kingston, was accompanied by briefings from the architect, Joseph Hurwitz of West Hurley, and the exhibit designer, Leonard Levitan of Shandaken and New York City.

By Julia Green
The majority of comments submitted to the Roxbury Planning Board in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Moresville Wind Project support the Western Catskill Preservation Alliance’s (WCPA) assertion that the project is impossible as it is currently outlined, according to Ron Karam, president of the WCPA.

By Matthew J. Perry
The pie-in-the-sky stories promise money beyond comprehension. In Texas, the savviest received $20,000 an acre. Royalties on productive wells can bring in thousands more to the luckiest. Land, once too expensive to farm or keep in the family, suddenly becomes the source of salvation.

By Brian Sweeney
The Margaretville Tele-phone Co. Inc. (MTC), a corporate and civic leader throughout the region since 1916, will be purchased by American Broadband Communications LLC, it was announced last week. The new owner is based in Charlotte, N.C. and specializes in acquiring telecommunications firms with fewer than 5,000 lines.

By Julia Green
A special meeting of the Margaretville Board of Trustees was held last Wednesday to discuss issues related to the new park pavilion and the status of the Margaretville constable, as well as the “conflict of interest” alleged against one of its members.

By Julia Green
A 26-year-old Illinois woman died at approximately 10:30 Monday night after she apparently fell 12 to 15 feet off a railroad bridge abutment just east of Arkville and landed on rocks alongside the Bushkill stream. Killed in the accident was Lynne N. Jaeger of Caseyville, Illinois.

By Brian Sweeney
A Fleischmanns resident pleaded not guilty in Delaware County Court to five charges stemming from an alleged insurance fraud case.
William Hrazanek, 61, appeared before Delaware County Judge Carl W. Becker and entered not guilty pleas on one count of insurance fraud (a second-degree Class C felony) and four counts of offering a false instrument for filing (first-degree Class E felonies).

The Central New York Landowners Coalition (CNYLC) will hold a public informational meeting on Thursday, July 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Delaware Academy auditorium at 2 Sheldon Drive in Delhi. All Delaware County landowners interested in leasing their property for natural gas exploration are invited to attend.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Hamlets throughout the Catskills have the chance of expanding their boundaries now that the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has informed the Coalition of Watershed Towns (CWT) of the opportunity.
The DEP’s land acquisition program is not allowed to solicit land within hamlets and is now willing to expand those hamlet areas designated in the 1997 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by up to one-half mile in every direction.

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, one of American popular music’s greatest composers, will rock the Belleayre Music Festival in Highmount on Saturday, July 12 at 8 p.m. The Beach Boys took the American music scene by storm in the 1960s, creating some of rock-n-roll’s most memorable tunes. Brian Wilson was the driving force behind the band and his multi-faceted contributions rank among the most important elements of rock music.