7-29-11: stuff

At Wgxc we have Gillibrant on CSA.

And Ancram has a functioning system of ethics!

Diane Valden in The Columbia Paper writes that the Ancram Board of Ethics found, “that Highway Superintendent James MacArthur violated the local Ethics Law by appointing his brother Robert to serve as highway boss when he took a vacation in late March of this year,” Valden writes.

Purple triangles in trees.

Never went here. Crying shame.

Copake:

There is going to be a town-wide revaluation of properties and a referendum on the police.

Spencertown Academy

7-28-11: the economy stinks, the weather is great

The flora of Copake Falls, old book.

DA denies she arranged for her brother-in-law to get off easy on the DWI.

Meth lab story on a good blog.

@nature_org
Nature Conservancy
If the whole world lived at NYC’s density level, we could all fit into the state of TX, says @treehugger http://nature.ly/pQ5DMk

Parenting is something you have to figure out and it changes your brain physically.

WGXC WGXC: Hands-On Radio
What to do Saturday? Ice Cream Social in Cairo? Oak Hill Day? or Prattsville festival? See the WGXC website and tune in Friday for details.

CrandellTheatre Crandell Theatre
Schedule update: there are only three more shows of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 2 -- Thursday at... http://fb.me/14IMIXVt9

kinderhookfarm Kinderhook Farm
Photo: Maiden voyage of the ice cream maker. http://tumblr.com/xsy3qum0dp

Over the past 10 years:

• The U.S. economy’s output of goods and services has expanded 19%.

• Nonfinancial corporate profits have risen 85%.

• The labor force has grown by 10.1 million.

• But the number of private-sector jobs has fallen by nearly two million.

• And the percentage of American adults at work has dropped to 58.2%, a low not seen since 1983.

Source.

7-27-11: copake controversies, bascilica industria slide show

Over at WXCG.ORG there are some interesting local stories, about the DA and her DWI brother in law, about a landlord evicting a woman who wrote something bad about him...



Sounds familiar but I can't follow everything.

Bascilica Industria in Albany Times Union.

Copake town survey.

Big Up next week.

Tweets:

@WGXC
WGXC: Hands-On Radio
Send in local music to air local music week: WGXC c/o Wave Farm, 5662 Rt. 23, Acra, NY 12405

Reading list for debt ceiling issue.

Post office considers closing Lanesville, Coeymans Hollow branches
Post offices in Lanesville, just outside Hunter in Greene County, and Coeymans Hollow in Albany County, are on a list of branches the Post Office is considering closing. The U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that it will study 3,653 local offices, branches and stations for possible closing.

7-26-11: no good local links in my inbox so I went global

Hudson Valley Labor's flikcr photos, Kinderhook. Restore the American Promise.

Large brains lead to Alzeheimers.

Very cool slide show. Inside people's refrigerator.
There it is: a big part of your life in a single photo.

Hacking an election, 2004, Ohio. Convincing story that 2004 election was hacked.

Jeremy Schoemaker
Wow in 2010 unemployment continued to soar but number of millionaires in the united states grew almost 10% #richalwayswin

Stuyvesant Planning Board meeting last night. My 10th hearing at Stuyvesant Town Hall. Still no sign I did something wrong.

7-25-11: new news about me

I'm just a humble dog farmer. I really should not be the center of controversy. But there is this story on my other blog about me and Tal Rappleyea, the town attorney for many of the towns around here.

Shoot out leads to a death.

Play magic? Kinderhook library.

Copake friend of the farmer festival in the times union.

Gibson (congressman) talking about the debt situation.

Wonders of the Universe tomorrow... a bit far.

The Chatham Times
The Crandell Theatre won Metroland's Best of 2011 for Best Community Cinema. But of course!! facebook.com/crandelltheatre

ChathamTimes The Chatham Times
Ammonia leak shuts down part of Route 66 in Greenport- A Hazmat spill shuts down part of Route 66 Saturday for...

7-22-11: does a cop hide his badge?

On my other blog, I discuss the suspicious lack of a contract for the 80 lawyer law firm, one of the biggest in the state and maybe the biggest in the capital district, that was hired for no apparent reason as special counsel and special prosecutor against me.

If you're the lawyer, show the contact. Does a cop hide his badge?

Art show in Albany.

Clandestine lab in a campground. Or its a rolling drug factory.

Hit and run, shooting at cops in Kinderhook. Man down? Wow.

Claverack house tour. New York Times.

Farm festival in Copake.

Gay marriage in Hudson.

7-21-11: someone is keeping an eye on copake!

Politicians die. Follow the link to see where they now lie.

Some of them don't wait to die to lie.

In Copake, looks like they will have a referendum on their police department. With the state police in Hillsdale, I hope the people vote to get rid of there force. The state police are professionals with institutional support, who can work anywhere in the state.

Copake first, then Chatham?

Copake: the man is coming but the at least someone is watching. Open government.





Tweets:

Neil deGrasse Tyson:
After today, US Astronauts will still access the Space Station - but only via the cramped quarters of Russian Soyuz Capsules.

Excessive Heat Warning
Issued : July 21 at 4:27AM EDT
Expiring : July 21 at 5:00PM EDT

7-20-11: I'm back

Ended up only being 5 days off. I was weighing some changes in strategy and have concluded that the full court, public press will continue.

Here is my zoning board hearing last night, my latest encounter with David Dave P. Everett of Whiteman Osterman and Hanna.

I will be back with a list of local links tomorrow and stay at it into the future.

Sorry for the brief interruption.

Will

dark

After not missing a day (other than Sunday) for 4 and a half months, the blog is going into hibernation.

I will be back soon! Hold on! A little break!

7-15-11: this would be a good day for sunshine

I have two political blogs. On this one, wikicoconews, I try to find links and stories with a local angel that might fall between the cracks.

On my other one, Sunshine on the Hudson, I write about stuff I know about from personal experience, longer pieces, usually about corruption in the town of Stuyvesant and how that corruption interfaces with the pattern of cronyism in county government.

Today, I have a piece on the other blog about last night's Stuyvesant town board meeting. The story is so bizarre I will forgo the link list here for today in the hopes of getting everyone over to the Sunshine on the Hudson blog to see if you or someone can figure out what the hell happened.

Thanks.

Will

7-14-11: albanian mobster, first gay marriage, bastille day, congressman crazy

Our very own Albanian mobster, right here in Columbia County? Also charged was David McLean, 45, of 282 Snyder Road in Ghent, Columbia County.

Innocent until proven guilty, please. And his name isn't even Albanian.

The history of Hudson as a vice capital.

Congressman Chris Gibson signs on to the crazy platform of national default.

Fire.

First gay marriage in the state in Columbia County? Linda Mussman and Claudia Bruce: trying to be first. Keep the judge away until midnight. Go for it.

7-13-11: cat shooter at large

3 cats shot?

Guess someone really likes birds. Or doesn't want anyone to lick his butter.

This is a great business model. The Katchkie Truck.

Motorcycle accident.

Football at Ichabod Crane.

Problems with Mormon claims. Google alert: kinderhook.

7-12-11: beth cozzolino and her DWI brother-in-law

Little league.

On my other blog, I get a bit petty.

City of Hudson has a dead Facebook page. Must be a live one too.

Lendra's Law and the Cozzolino case. Here are the comments about Beth Cozzolino:

This should come as no surprise to anyone. DA Cozzolino has taken care of “friends” and family for years. Look at the County Clerks brother who has received special treatment for years. There are many more examples as well.
Then there is everyone else. The women arrested in Greeenport and had her kids taken away and had to have supervised visits. The 20 year old who is being made to plea to the felony. But the DA’s brother in law gets off with a $700 fine, no probation, no DSS and the records get sealed.

The sad part is she now wants to be a Judge in Columbia County. Time for Cozzolino to go. She has no business running for Judge and the Columbia County Republicans should be embarrased to have her on the ticket.

Recusal aside, this does not look good for Cozzolino. The long arm of political influence is still there regardless.

Drinking and driving is dangerous enough. But to have children in the car is inexcusable (BAC of .06, .10 or off the charts doesn’t matter when innocent kids are involved).

And he DID deserve the Felony. He was drunk and he was driving and his kids were in the car, all the elements of the crime. Afterall HER office is or has made the 20 year old take the Felony.
I agree with Poppy, there is no doubt either she directly or inditrectly was involved in this. Her husband,ex-CCSO DA Investigator, was there that night,after the arrest. Did he talk with anyone? How about the Judge, did her husband talk with him?
This is not the only time she has done these things. She is a terrible candidate for Judge. She will destroy the rest of the GOP Candidates for sure.

7-11-11: national park, fracking, embezzlement details

7, 11, 11: good luck.

Boating accident kills 4.

Sam Pratt on development. Great piece.

Art Omi. Opening over show still up.

More details on the embezzlement case.

Kinderhook farm stampede.

Soil survey, 1923.

Real Housewives of Columbia County.

Property tax.

Saland's statement on gay marriage.

DEC on Fracking. Study published.

Termination notice Greene County.

I just sent this note to Congressman Gibson:

Dear Congressman Gibson,

Do you plan to join with Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Hinchey to give bi-partisan support for Hudson River National Park designation? I , as a resident of Stuyvesant with 7 miles of shoreline, would welcome your leadership on this local issue. We can use all the help we can get to create and protect public access to the River.

Lee Jamison

Hudson River National Park proposal reintroduced
Associated Press
Thursday, July 7, 2011


ALBANY, N.Y. — Congressman Maurice Hinchey and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have reintroduced legislation proposing a national park designation for the Hudson River Valley from Fort Edward in Washington County to southern Westchester County.
The bill would authorize the National Park Service to conduct a study on whether the Hudson River Valley should become a unit of the National Park system. The distinction would give the region greater national attention, additional federal resources to support and preserve heritage sites, and increased regional tourism.

The legislation is similar to a bill that passed in the House last year.

The Hudson River Valley is already designated as a federal National Heritage Area and state Greenway.

The National Park Service would have no legal authority to overrule state or local laws and policies on non-federal lands.

See link for good article:


See also
http://www.lohud.com/article/20110707/NEWS05/107070368/Hudson-Valley-seeks-national-parks-designation-Gillibrand-Hinchey-back-study?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s

7-9-11: unequal justice is the norm in columbia county

Beth Cozzolino: crony?

Unequal justice in Columbia County?

Timothy McEachern, 46, paid a $700 fine when he could have faced four years in prison for driving legally drunk with his kids as passengers. He is a major political supporter of Columbia County District Attorney Beth Cozzolino, his wife's sister.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Insider-deal-in-Columbia-County-DWI-case-1458843.php#ixzz1RbZdRPzK

Meanwhile, look at the county ethics board: a problem.

Unequal justice.

Car in a lake.

The comptroller picks 3 towns a year to audit.

AIDS counsel, garden party, senator Gillibrand.

Copake Falls train station.

7-8-11: local audit stories (clermont and new lebanon) fell through the cracks

Project Nim looks very interesting. I hope to get to Chatham to see it. Crandell Theatre on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Speaking of Crandell: summerfest.

Then there is this: Big Up.

County Manager position.

Pick up soccer: All boys soccer players in grades 7-12 are invited to play in pick-up soccer games at the Greenport Town Park starting July 14 at 6 p.m.

Kinderhook Dog Park: get involved.

I have not followed up on the New Lebanon audit story and other local media didn't pick it up, but it might be really big. Anyway, here is some reporting on another audit.

The future of small town newspapers.

A woman with bees all over her face.

Holcin suit. Not to be missed.

7-7-11: fan mail, FAKE LETTER, sunflowers

Here is some fan mail about this story I have on my other blog:

To All:

The letter which Will Pflaum has just posted on the Forum WAS NOT written by me. It WILL NOT be written by me and I disavow anything contained in it.  That letter is fraudulent, misleading and attempts to create a situation where my name will be misused.

To Mr. Pflaum:

I hereby demand that you remove this letter from the Forum IMMEDIATELY and that you refrain from printing, posting or otherwise disseminating this or any similar letter in any written or spoken communication or medium.

Ron Knott, deputy supervisor of the town of Stuyvesant

To avoid confusion, I will continue to disseminate this sucker but with a lot of red lines and the word FAKE all over it to avoid confusion.

Real news in a fake form.

Family Christian Parade.

Political meeting in Chatham. Oh, its national.

Map of Hudson from 1799.

Reward for cat shooter.

Bee keeping.

Rich are getting richer? True.

Citizen science and sunflowers. Observe and report bee activity in sunflowers.

7-6-11: clovr.net hello, breaking story on my other blog

Did Stuyvesant town board misappropriate funds? See my other blog for an investigation.

Did the earthquake break the reactor, not the tsunami?

Wow-- new site. Clovr.net

Congrats on a great site people.

Go to this? Art Omi.

I would have gone to this: balloons over the Hudson. Wait, I saw this was coming in a tweet and blogged it at the time but didn't go. My kids would have loved it.

Columbia county board of supervisors cannot be trusted to get the move to the old Walmart right. They will get it wrong again, like buying the school in Philmont, or building an empty industrial park that is poorly sited and counter productive to economic development, or a tourism campaign that will drive people away. Look at their track record. They have a hole in their roof they need to fix before they go out an buy more property.

Benefits for small town officials outweigh salaries.

Crandell theater.

Free music in Hudson.

Special prosecutors are expensive, just ask the town of Stuyvesant.

Hudson whaling history -- nice story.



Petty larceny in Claverack.

SPAC summer performance.

7-5-11: racist graffiti, celebration of July 4, AD 1054, remarkable astrological event

Racist vandalist. More on the subject... Here.

Anyone remember this incident? There was apparently a similar one a few weeks earlier involving racially charged bizarre stuff.

Open Weekend at Art Omi.

Gibson wants to cut discretionary spending, not raise taxes on the rich.

The guy in Taghkanic with the motorcycle race track on his property.

He won in court...

Notice of meeting in Stuyvesant.

Used to be a lot of Amusement parks that are now gone.

Legal notice, New Lebanon.

History for July 4... yesterday.

Philmont cat shooter update.



Troy ballot fraud case.

Tweet:

@neiltyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Just an FYI - July 4th in USA: Star Spangled Banner, Fireworks, the 1812 Overture, Air Shows -- all celebrations of War.

neiltyson Neil deGrasse Tyson
July 4, AD 1054. A star brightly explodes in sky: a supernova. Noted by Chinese. Astro-folk commemorate this day w/ fireworks

That's what we were celebrating!

7-2-11: cat shooter at large, comptroller audit story is back and needs attention, weddings and restaurant expanding

Someone shot a cat in Philmont?

This is BIG. Maybe. I have to get back on this story.

Big wedding in Hudson.

Mexican Radio expands. Good luck Mark.

7-1-11: tweets

Maybe google+ is good?

Jason here: Saturday night there is the chance for showers & t'storms. A weak front moving through Sunday will...

This week, Jacob's Pillow Dance offers the US debut of Norway's Carte Blanche, which is "something bold, new, and... http://fb.me/Uhkq61KH

@ChathamTimes
The Chatham Times
A Chimp Comes to Chatham | July 9th and 10th: A Weekend of Special Crandell Theatre Film Events Buster Keaton and... http://fb.me/vJsDvAuv

@RhinebeckTweets
Rhinebeck Chamber
Schedule for this w/e Balloon Festival in Dutchess County. That's alotta hot air!! http://ow.ly/5upIc

@CrandellTheatre
Crandell Theatre
Wow! We got 15 new fans today! 79 to go for 1000 fans by July 9th, Our First Year Anniversary of the Crandell... http://fb.me/IvcvRyB7

@art_omi
Art Omi
Call for Volunteers! http://fb.me/YEXVAU1d

@azipaybarah
Azi Paybarah
so much for denial from @nygovCuomo spox. headline: "DEC confirms fracking ban to end" http://bit.ly/jrTJ3C