By Jay Braman Jr.
After drawing criticism last month for proposing a large raise for himself, Shandaken Supervisor Rob Stanley dialed that plan back a little in time for the public hearing on his tentative 2014 spending plan.
Even though he lowered that raise from the previous $5,000 increase to a $3,000 bump, some in attendance at the public hearing on the budget still called for more of a drop.

By Joe Moskowitz
Teachers have different tastes and different styles. They may teach different subjects, but one thing they seem to have in common is a strong dislike for “Common Core.”
Common Core’s full name is the Common Core State Standards Initiative. It is often called the Common Core Curriculum. Roxbury Central School Superintendent Thomas O’Brien calls it, “The ultimate unfunded mandate.” Margaretville Central School Superintendent Tony Albanese says, “It’s an airplane which is being built while it is in the air.”
But both educators say it isn’t a bad idea.

By Joe Moskowitz
In a race so close that it took an extra week to determine the winner, incumbent Marjorie Miller has been re-elected to serve a second two-year term as Supervisor of the Town of Middletown.
Miller, a Democrat, trailed Republican challenge Nelson Delameter by 22 votes after last Tuesday’s election, but when 82 absentee ballots were tallied at the Board of Elections in Delhi yesterday, Miller had made up the deficit and more, winning by an unofficial count of 523-513.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Representatives for Crossroads Ventures LLC appeared before the Shandaken Planning Board Thursday to get the ball rolling on local review of their $365 million resort project.
The sparsely attended meeting was quite different from the last time Crossroads appeared before the board 13 years ago.

By Jay Braman Jr.
State Supreme Court Justice Richard Mott has issued an injunction against an attempt by Ulster County Government to evict the Catskill Mountain Railroad (CMRR) from the tracks of the Ulster/Delaware railway between Kingston and Highmount.
The decision marks the latest development in what has become a battle between CMRR and Ulster County Executive Mike Hein, who has been trying to rid the tracks of the trains in order to make room for a rail trail.

Results will be updated as they become available:

Delameter Knocks Off Miller in Middletown
But Absentees could decide race

Republican challenger Nelson Delameter knocked off one-term Democratic Supervisor Marge Miller in a hotly contested race for Middletown Supervisor on Tuesday.
All results from the Delaware County Board of Elections are unofficial, but show Mr. Delameter receiving 489 votes to 467 for Ms. Miller. Absentee ballots are due at the board of elections by November 12 and may factor into the final results.
In the race for a pair of seats on the Middletown Town Board, Republican incumbent Jake Rosa and longtime Democratic board member Michael Finberg were re-elected with 574 and 530 vores, respectively. Political newcomer Dean Hunter, running as an Independent finished with 438 votes and GOP hopeful George Brown had 190 votes.
Margaretville attorney John Fairbairn 3rd, a Democrat, was an easy winner in the race to fill an open justice position. He earned 755 votes to 100 for Fleischmanns resident Warren Slavin. Mr. Fairbairn fills the position vacated by Glen George, who did not seek another term.
Democrat David Goodchild Jr. won a term as tax assessor with 744 votes. He was appointed last year to fill an unexpired term created by the resignation of Gary Marks.

Andes
Veteran Republican Supervisor won re-election on Tuesday with 315 votes, running unopposed.
Voting for a pair of town board position saw a changing of the guard as Democratic challengers Thomas Joyce, who received 281votes, and R. Dale Cole, with 268 votes, won seats by knocking off Republican incumbents Martin Liddle and Daniel Grommeck who received 188 and 162 votes, respectively.
Republican assessor Tina Moshier withstood a challenge from Democrat Joseph Steketee Sr., winning re-election by a 292-168 margin.
Michael McAdams, a Republican, was running without opposition for superintendent of highways and earned 388 votes.
Incumbent GOP justices Joseph Grieco (370 votes) and Nicholas Burton (343 votes) were each running without opposition.

Roxbury
Longtime Democratic Supervisor Thomas Hynes earned another two-year term with an easy 541-169 victory over Independent challenger Bill Walcutt.
Two town board positions were decided on Tuesday with incumbents Allen Hinkley and Gene Cronk winning re-election with 475 and 410 votes, respectively. Democratic challenger Melony Lee received 399 votes.
Incumbent Democrats Wayne Pebler and Joan Moore were running unopposed for justice and tax collector, respectively. He received 560 votes and she finished with 604 votes.

Bovina
Republican Supervisor Tina Mole easily withstood a challenge from Independent candidate Beatriz Sohni by a 213-79 margin to win another term.
The race for superintendent of highways saw Democratic incumbent Ed Weber defeat Republican challenger Brian McIntosh, 197-98.
Democrat Evelyn Stewart was re-elected to a town board position with 214 votes and Republican Kenneth Brown won the other open board seat with 149 votes. He fills a position vacated by longtime board member Chuck McIntosh, who chose not to run again. There were also 104 write-in votes cast for the town board.
Republican tax collector/clerk Catherine Hewitt received 231 votes to win re-election without opposition.

Keep checking back for updates.

By Joan Lawrence-Bauer
Crossroads Ventures representatives delivered all documentation last Friday that local planning boards will need to begin site plan review and special permit deliberations for the construction of the Belleayre Resort. 
Town of Shandaken Planning Board members will get their first formal look at the project in a workshop meeting tomorrow evening, November 7 and Town of Middletown planners get a first look at their next meeting on November 14.  Both boards are expected to take several months to review the voluminous data before rendering any decisions.

By Joe Moskowitz
Government agencies call it SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Consumers use SNAP benefits by swiping their Electronic Benefits Transfer card to pay for purchases, much like using a debit or credit card.
To about 47 million Americans, those letters of the alphabet mean the difference between good nutrition and going hungry. But putting a meal on the table recently became more difficult for many people in America. On November 1, all SNAP benefits, the official name for food stamps, were reduced by five-and-one-half percent.

By Jay Braman Jr.
A strong fire erupted in an auction warehouse in Shokan Monday morning, claiming both the building and its contents before being brought under control.

Fire fighters responded to the call at about 8:40 a.m. and wrestled the blaze down in about an hour. But then, the building’s owner, Russell Oakes, called the fire company back at around 2 p.m. because flames began kicking up again.

By Joe Moskowitz
Area property owners with flood insurance my have already received the bad news, and if Congress doesn’t act, or if their policy lapses, the news could get worse, much worse.
In an attempt to stabilize the finances of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), Congress recently passed the Biggert-Waters Act. The first phase  went into effect on October 1.