RVES Ambulance Corps Closing in October

The membership of RVES regretfully announces after months of hard work and discussion with Town and Village officials that RVES will cease operations on 31 October 2016 at 23.59 after 38 years of service to the community due to financial reasons.

The Town worked diligently to find funds to sustain the ambulance service.  Sadly the $12,800 is less than one half of what is needed when other fund raising and insurance reimbursements are added in.

Some of the larger items in our budget include:  Worker's Compensation Insurance:  $15,000, mortgage $14,000, building, vehicle and malpractice insurance $7,000.  Added on to those costs are: utilities, diesel fuel,  medical supplies, uniforms, equipment plus a thirteen year old ambulance and you can see how expensive running an ambulance service is.  In a small town losing population survival without without government help and support is not possible.

The membership felt it would be irresponsible to accept tax dollars and still have to close our doors in a few months time due to the help being "too little, too late".

At this point in time the membership, while still committed and dedicated to helping people in need, see no route forward without a substantial commitment of public funds.

The Schoharie News will follow up on this story as it develops.

Alleged Armed Robbery at SUNY Cobleskill Leads to Arrest

The SUNY Cobleskill University Police sent out this notice Sunday morning:

At approximately 9:45pm Saturday (9/3/2016) evening, two males approached two male students on Albany Avenue. The two males, one of whom was armed with what appeared to be a rifle or shotgun, took property from the students and left the scene. The students were unharmed and using a “Campus Blue Light Phone” were able to provide Police with pertinent information. A very short time later New York State Police located and took an involved subject into custody. The investigation is continuing. This is an isolated incident and there is no further threat to the campus community. Even so, please be cautious and contact University Police if you see anything suspicious or have information regarding this incident. Further updates will be provided as information becomes available. 

Always remember it is always better to walk in pairs and take care of each other. If you see something, say something. Contact University Police at 518.255.5555 whenever something seems unusual.

Cobleskill Rink Hosting Skate Day January 17th

Residents of Cobleskill are invited to come to skate at the community skating rink this Saturday.

Richmondville to Receive Grant for Water Main Replacement

The Village of Richmondville will be receiving over a half million dollars to replace much of its water system. A NYS Homes and Community Renewal grant approved last week will bring $535,000 to undertake water improvements in the Village.

Cobleskill Receiving over $600k for Pool Repair, Housing Rehabilitation

Mayor Linda Holmes and the Village of Cobleskill has two new notches on their belt. The community, which has already had another $3.4 million in grant funding approved this year, had over a half million dollars approved by the state for two major projects.

First, the community will fix a major portion of its Forever Generations Nick Iorio Park. Almost $160,000 will be used to replace the aging pump house at its pool, allowing for its continued quality use. Another $500,000 will be used to repair much of Lark Street housing through a NYS Community Development Block Grant.

Cobleskill Police Blotter

Friday, September 12, 2014

At 8:35pm Cobleskill Police arrested Ashley A. Brantley, 19, of Springfield
Gardens, NY, for Petit larceny. She was issued an appearance ticket and
released. She is to appear is Cobleskill Town Court on September 30th at 5:00
pm.

At 11:38 pm Cobleskill Police arrested Caitlyn R. Lockwood, 24, of Cobleskill,
NY, for Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle 3rd. She was
arraigned in Cobleskill Town Court and released. She is to return to Cobleskill
Town Court on September 30th at 4:00 pm.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

At 11:00 pm Cobleskill Police arrested Patrick J. Pensivy, 22, of Hicksville, NY,
for Violation of the Village Noise Ordinance. He was issued an appearance ticket
and released. He is to appear in Cobleskill Town Court on September 30th at 5:00
pm.

At 11:00 pm Cobleskill Police arrested Alberto M. Vidales, 23, of Mamaroneck,
NY, for Violation of the Village Noise Ordinance. He was issued an appearance
ticket and released. He is to appear in Cobleskill Town Court on September 30th
at 5:00 p.m.

At 11:00 pm Cobleskill Police issued a summons to Emily K. Doyle, 18, of
Kingston, NY, for Possession of Alcohol by a person under the age of 21. She is
to appear in Cobleskill Town Court on September 30th at 5:00 pm.

At 11:00 pm Cobleskill Police issued a summons to Devon A. Mintzes, 17, of
Bay Shore, NY, for Possession of Alcohol by a person under the age of 21. She
is to appear in Cobleskill Town Court on September 30th at 5:00 pm.

Student-on-Faculty Assault Causes Shelter in Place at C-R School

Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School released the following statement regarding an incident at the school yesterday:

Good evening, this is Mrs. Ausfeld, Principal of the Cobleskill- Richmondville High school. I am calling to notify parents and guardians of an incident that occurred today, Sept. 10, 2014, at approximately 1:30pm that resulted in a Shelter in Place for all students and staff at the HS. A staff member was assaulted by a student resulting in an injury that prompted a response by law enforcement and EMS. The shelter in place was called immediately to ensure the safety of students and staff and allow school officials and law enforcement to deal effectively with the situation. As always, school safety is our primary concern. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the High School Office. Thank you and have a good evening.

We are waiting on details and will report as they come in.

Cobleskill Police Blotter

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

At 1:40 am Cobleskill Police arrested Troy M. Primes, 18, of Berkshire, NY, for Unlawful Possession of Marihuana. He was issued an appearance ticket and released. He is to appear in Cobleskill Town Court on September 29th at 5:00pm.

At 4:01 pm Cobleskill Police arrested Amanda Sword, 28, of Cobleskill, NY, on a Warrant for issuing a Bad Check. She was arraigned in Cobleskill Town Court and released. She is to return to Cobleskill Town Court on September 9th at 5:00 pm.

Thursday, September 4, 2014

At 6:06 pm. Cobleskill Police arrested Jeanne Brown, 45, of Cobleskill, NY, for Criminal Mischief 4th. She was issued an appearance ticket arid released. She is to appear in Cobleskill Town Court on September 30th at 5:00 pm.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

At 1:11 am. Cobleskill Police arrested Lawrence K. Hammond, Jr. 28, of Worcester, NY, for DWI, operating a motor vehicle with a BAC greater than 0.08% and other vehicle and traffic tickets. She was released and is to appear in Cobieskill Town Court on September 30th at 5:00 pm.

At 4:46 pm. Cobleskill Police arrested Donald Q. Radcliff, 21, oi Cobleskill, NY, for DWI, operating a motor vehicle with a BAC greater than 0.08% and other vehicle and traffic tickets. He was arraigned in Cobleskill Town Court and remanded to the Schoharie County Jail on $500 Bail/$1000 Bond. He is to return to Cobleskill Town Court on September 9th at 5:00 pm.

At 3:08 pm. Cobleskill Police arrested Jamie Lynn Bartlett, 23 of Sprakers, NY, for Petit Larceny. She was issued an appearance ticket and released. She is to appear in Cobteskiil Town Court on September 30th at 5:00 pm.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

At t;55 am. Cobleskill Police arrested Jillian M. Salzmann, 22, of Calverton
NY, for DWI, operating a motor vehicle with a BAC greater than 0.08% and other vehicle and traffic tickets. She was released and is to appear in Cobleskill Town Court on September 30th at 5:00 pm.

Cobleskill Volunteer Project to Produce Hydroelectricity at Veteran's Park

The Village of Cobleskill and intrepid volunteers are doing something unprecedented in Schoharie County. While there's been a lot of talk about installing solar panels for local municipalities, Cobleskill is installing a hydro project.

Led by volunteer Jonathan di Cesare, the project is transforming the small waterfall in Veteran's Park to produce 5kw of electricity-- which will be returned to the grid.

Photo credit: Village of Cobleskill FB Page

For more information, see the Village of Cobleskill's Facebook page or donate to the project here.

Fracking Likely to Dominate R'ville Public Hearing

The Richmondville Town Board will be holding its regular board meeting for the month of July tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Richmondville Volunteer Emergency Squad building located on Route 7 near the outskirts of the Village. It was rescheduled to this evening due to the Ethington hearings that were held last week.

In addition to the regular agenda, members of the board and general public will have the opportunity to comment during a public hearing on the new proposed Zoning Law, which has been under review and rewrite for several years, and can be viewed on the municipality's website here. 

One potential point of contention within the proposed law is language viewed as hostile to fracking interests, which was promoted by members of the community concerned with the controversial natural gas practice of extraction, and has become a hot button topic of discussion in the Town of Richmondville. 

The Center for Sustainable Rural Communities, which favors stringent language against fracking and other industry related activities in Richmondville, sent an email to supporters Wednesday afternoon urging area residents to attend tonight's meeting and stand for the proposed environmental protections. 

Cobleskill School 'Hit List' Being Investigated

An alleged 'hit list' of victims has been found at Golding Middle School in Cobleskill. This comes after a series of rumors spread around the school last week that caused a dance to be canceled after it appeared that there were sixth graders targeted.

No evidence has surfaced of who made the list, but it is being taken very seriously. Approximately two dozen names of eighth graders have been found on the list. It appeared that the list threatened students at an upcoming event. 

“We don’t have any credible evidence from an entire week spent speaking to students. I’m not saying we wouldn’t make a decision on Monday if something credible or concrete came about, but we're hoping that this time, there’s a little more evidence that we’re going to be able to wrap this up before,” said Macan.

Info from WRGB here.

"We’re always concerned, in these times we have to take every threat seriously until proven otherwise, so that’s how we’ve been treating it,” he said.

More from WTEN here.

NEWS10 ABC: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports

No Excuse This Weekend: County Full of Events (June 13, 2014)

Schoharie County is the place to be tomorrow, with several communities hosting different events in what should be a beautiful Flag Day across Upstate New York:

Blenheim - By far the most somber event of the day, Blenheim residents will be hosting a breakfast at the local Town Hall to benefit late Town Highway Superintendent Gerald "Gerry" Felter's wife in her time of financial need. The breakfast will kick off at 8:30 am and is donation only. 

Cobleskill - Marking the one-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Cobleskill Fire Department, the county's largest municipality is going all out with a Main Street parade, all-day events at the fairgrounds and live entertainment to cap the celebrations. The festivities will begin at 10:00 am. 

Middeburgh - The Valley community will have a host of events for local residents to participate in the second annual Heritage Day celebration. They include the Rotary's Sloughter 5K set for 9:00 am, Technopolooza on the high school lawn, and the Creekside Park's mural unveiling. 

Schoharie - The Schoharie American Legion Auxiliary Flag Day Ceremony will be held at the Veteran's Park located on the corner of Main and Spring Streets in the Village of Schoharie. A special ceremony for retiring used flags will be performed at 6:00 pm with the help of local Boy Scout Troop #4.

Coby-Rich 3rd Graders Win Farm Tour

COBLESKILL, NY - June 8, 2014 - Schoharie Valley Farm to School Project of Cornell Cooperative Extension is pleased to announce that it has awarded the opportunity for a Farm Tour to the 3rd grade class of teacher, Debra Henry, of Radez Elementary School, Cobleskill-Richmondville CSD. The free tour, scheduled for Wednesday, June 11th, to begin at 11:45 am and end at 1:45 pm, is being made available through the support of Fox Creek Farm CSA of Gallupville, NY and Farm Family Insurance - Burke, Miller Associates, headquartered in Glenmont, NY.

Hosting the Farm Tour are Fox Creek Farm CSA owners, Raymond and Sara Lurhman, who will ensure that all members of Ms. Henry’s class have a chance to rotate thru several activities during their two hour tour. In order to get a close up view of a working farm, students will enjoy: 

(1) Planting: to learn about how plants grow from a seed; they will take their seedling home with them;

(2) Animals: walking to the cows and chickens (and to a pond - with its fish and tadpoles); seeing how their daughter Johanna’s small egg enterprise works;

(3) A “Haywagon” ride - to see the entire farm and the different crops being grown; will include a visit with the beekeepers, Tim and Jack Norray, at the hives on the farm.

The drawing for a free Farm Tour was limited to school districts who have been participants of the Schoharie Valley Farm to School Project. An additional qualifier limited consideration to teachers who had involved their classroom in the NYS Agriculture in the Classroom sponsored “I Love NY Ag” Art and Writing Contest, held from March - April 2014. 

All of the local entries will be on display at the Schoharie County Sunshine Fair. Included in the winning classroom is a statewide winner, Myteah Sperbeck. With over 300 entries judged from school districts across New York State, Myteah received an individual award of Honorable Mention in the category of 3rd grade submissions and will also have her entry on display at the New York State Fair in Syracuse.

For questions, contact Farm to School Project Coordinator, Regina Tillman, via email at rmt371@live.com, or via mobile phone at (518) 229- 1548, or call the office of Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties at (518) 234-4303 / (518) 296-8310.

Cobleskill Fire Department Readies for 150th Anniversary

With events planned all day at the Cobleskill Sunshine Fairgrounds, a parade scheduled to march down Main Street at 10 am, and live music performances by Chicken Herders (5:00 pm-9:00 pm) and Skeeter Creek (9:00 pm-closing), the Cobleskill Fire Department is readying for its 150th anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 14 from 10:00 am until midnight. 

The Cobleskill Fire Department serves approximately nine thousand people in a one hundred and fifty square mile area and its origins, dating back to 1864, pre-date the Village of Cobleskill's incorporation in 1868, making it one of the municipality's oldest public institutions. 

Grand Re-Opening of Cobleskill's Nick Iorio Park Set for Sunday

Cobleskill Recreation Commission and Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work and Play have been working together to create opportunities for the community to become more active.  Nick Iorio Park in Cobleskill is undergoing some major renovation including updating and increasing the offerings for all age groups and will have a grand re-opening on Sunday June 1st from 11-12:30.

Cobleskill Recreation Commission has been working with Parkitects to design an intergenerational park for the community to increase activity for all in a safe area and work has been partially funded through Creating Healthy Places as well as through community fundraisers.  An adult and teen fitness area has been added for those 13 years and up to be able to work out while younger children are at the playground or are practicing on the fields.  “Outdoor gym facilities like this are usually found in cities and are becoming more common in so that more people have access to the equipment, whether they can afford a gym membership or not.  For much of the year it is nicer to be outside than to work out indoors,” says Maureen Blanchard, Project Coordinator with Creating Healthy Places.  “When you work out, you naturally heat up so dressing in layers allows you to work out for much of the year.”  “Schoharie County is a beautiful place to live and explore outdoors, now we can exercise outside as well”.   Trainers from Fit Coalition will be on hand to demonstrate use of the fitness equipment as well as helping people become more comfortable using it.

In addition to the adult/teen fitness area, a new preschool area has been added creating a safe place for young children to play.  This area will include areas to promote climbing, a slide and some activities that are accessible to less mobile children. The preschool area also has improved surfacing, making it safer for children to play on. 

The renovated park will have a grand re-opening on Sunday June 1st at 11 am and the public is invited to attend.  The park was installed in 1990 and has been an important part of the community.  As we strive to get people to be more active, we need to update some of the facilities as we are doing here.   Further improvements will be added in the near future, but additional funds need to be raised.  In addition to the ceremonial grand opening, there will be a treasure hunt and obstacle course challenge for children, as well as face painting.

 Refreshments will be available for those attending.  Dress comfortably and be ready to try the new equipment while there. 

Creating Healthy Places is a grant funded through New York State Department of Health to address the growing problem of obesity and its effects on chronic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Heart Disease.  The Grant was awarded to SUNY Cobleskill in 2010 for 5 years with $875,000 coming into the community to work on access to fresh fruits and vegetables and places to be physically active.  For more information or questions, please contact Maureen Blanchard, Project Coordinator at (518) 255-5294.

Casino Hearing Tonight in Cobleskill

Members of the public will have the opportunity to address their concerns on the proposed Howe Caverns Casino to Cobleskill Town Supervisor Leo McAllister and the rest of the town board in a public hearing scheduled for 8:00 p.m. this evening at the local firehouse. 

Mr. McAllister, who initially opposed any casino coming into the county, has been a staunch advocate for the public having input on this controversial issue. Although his position that only Cobleskill residents could speak at tonight's hearing has ruffled some in the community.

The Center for Sustainable Rural Communities blasted that decision in an e-mail sent to the municipality and press last week, claiming the restriction violates the New York Open Meeting Law and that the casino "has the potential for impacting the broader community in both positive and negative ways."

Interested Coby-Rich School Board Candidates Have One Week to Submit Petitions

Local residents interested in running for one of three open seats on the Board of Education in the Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School district have one more week to pick up and submit a nominating petition to district officials. 

Petitions, which are due on Monday, April 21st at 5:00 pm, must receive twenty-five signatures from registered voters located within the vast school district that spans several villages and townships, and can be obtained from the district office during regular operating hours.

The open seats are currently occupied by Board of Education members Steven Philbrick, Russell Smith, and Bruce Tyron. District elections, propositions, and public consideration of the 2014-15 school budget will be held on Tuesday, May 20, from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm in both the Golding Middle School in Cobleskill and the Radez Elementary School in Richmondville.

More information can be found on the Cobleskill-Richmondville Central School website.  

Two Seek Village Board in Richmondville

Milan Jackson and Stephen Shore, two residents in the Village of Richmondville, are seeking election to the municipality's Board of Trustees in next week's local races. Both are running unopposed for the two two year seats on the small community's governing body.

Neither candidate is new to local government, as Mr. Jackson was appointed to the Board of Trustees last September to fill a vacancy caused by Trustee Vincent Massarotti's resignation, while Mr. Young has served as Chairman of the Village Planning Board since 2011. 

The election will be held on Tuesday, March 18th from noon until nine at the Radez Elementary School on 319 Main Street. Citizens will also be heading to the polls in the Village of Middleburgh, where they too will have only two choices for two open seats on the ballot. 

Cobleskill Cheerleader Recognized for Exceptional Spirit, Personal Best

Albany, NY  – Capital Region Orthopedics is proud to award a driven cheerleader that is committed to always giving her Personal Best. 

Valerie Snyder, now a sophomore, is a student in Cobleskill-Richmondville High School. Valerie is currently a varsity cheerleader for the school’s basketball team.  Her accomplishments in cheerleading haven’t come easy, but her dedication has helped her succeed in the sport.

Valerie has down syndrome, and her experience as a cheerleader has inspired her teammates and the community.  Valerie’s coach, Regina Hagues says, “She comes to practice every day, she does what’s expected of her, and she’s always beaming.” The cheerleading squad has helped Valerie ever since day one. Valerie’s teammate, Jessica says, “It’s easy to teach her new things because she wants to learn. Whenever she has a question, she’s not afraid to ask for help.”

Valerie has proved that anything is possible when you are driven to overcome any obstacle you face. Her story has helped bring her community together, and inspire others to perform at their Personal Best.

Cobleskill EMS Pancake Breakfast Sunday, March 16th

The Cobleskill Rescue Squad Junior EMS Program is holding a pancake breakfast on March 16th for all interested. The event, from 8am until noon was listed on the Village of Cobleskill Facebook page.

Photo credit: Cobleskill FB Page