Schoharie News to Expand Coverage of Town & Village Meetings

The Schoharie News was created as a project to provide better news coverage to residents of Schoharie County, originally focused on highlighting political news that no other media format bothered to report. However, as our stories have evolved, so has our perspective of whether county residents are receiving across the board coverage.

Which, we believe, they are not.

Between the Cobleskill and Stamford weeklies, maybe six town and three village board meetings are covered in any given month, leaving residents of the other thirteen municipalities without adequate information concerning their local government and what is occurring within its purview. As such, something needs to be done, and we're going to do it. 

Thus, every month the Schoharie News will attend two board meetings from across the county on a rotating basis to provide every town and village resident with coverage of at least one public gathering over the course of the new year and every year subsequent we are in existence. 

Now, we cannot do this by ourselves. We need you, the humble reader, to assist our endeavor to expand news coverage in Schoharie County by (1.) letting us know which board meetings we should attend (note: the Schoharie News traveled to Conesville to cover their organizational meeting yesterday, but got lost and turned around after two dogs started chasing my car) and (2.) making this financially feasible for myself.

Here is a look at December's stats: the Schoharie News published seventy-six articles, four of which were the result of two separate county board meetings, three covered local high school sports, two dealt with Schoharie County acquiring new vehicles, another two covered community Christmastime events in addition to approximately ten hours of interviews and sit-downs with local officials to gain knowledge on a variety of issues.

Add in all the other crime-related articles, opinion pieces and general politics, and the Schoharie News has covered a newspaper's worth of stories in the past month alone while finishing my fall semester at SUNY Cobleskill and working around 26 hours per week at a local deli, all without any extra pay.

Thanks to our generous readers the past three months, the Schoharie News has enough funds to keep our office open and accessible until April in the Village of Middleburgh, however, that doesn't take into account the work aspect of running this project that consumes fifteen-twenty hours per week on an already thinly stretched schedule.

Which is where you guys can make a difference.

If every week one hundred readers of the Schoharie News donated one dollar via pay pal or mail, such as thousands of residents do when they pick up a copy of the Cobleskill or Stamford paper, that would be enough to cover monthly overhead costs of maintaining an office and gas, while earning a bit of profit for myself.

This project isn't about creating a full-time career for myself, which I wouldn't be opposed to if that was possible, but to provide better news coverage of not only the stories everyone else is publishing, but of those no one else is willing to publish, which is why we're all in this together and any amount of support you can offer is greatly appreciated.

If you have any tips, concerns or questions about advertising or donating, the Schoharie News can be reached by email at aaaabraves@yahoo.com, or snail mail at Timothy Knight, P.O. Box 891, Middleburgh New York, 12122.

Again, thank you all for your continued support and please let me know which town or village board meetings we should cover to bring our readers better coverage of the county they live in.
 

Middleburgh Man Imprisons Ex-Girlfriend, Stabs Self in Desmond Hotel Incident

According to details released by Colonie Police, Middleburgh resident Brent Speedling imprisoned his ex-girlfriend for approximately six hours early yesterday morning at the Desmond Hotel, and after she was able to successfully escape due to the efforts of hotel staff, Mr. Speedling stabbed himself numerous times in the head and chest area with broken glass.

 

Brent Speedling, 35, has been charged with Criminal Contempt in the 1st
Degree, Unlawful Imprisonment in the 1st Degree, Harassment in the 2nd
Degree and Violating an Order of Protection.

WTEN published the following report yesterday afternoon:

Lt. Robert Winn said the man broke glass in the hotel room and started stabbing himself in the head and chest area. Surveillance cameras showed he left the scene in his truck before officers arrived.

"During the dispute in the room he broke some glassware and used that glassware to cut himself so there was a large amount of blood in the room," Lt. Winn continued. "We were certainly concerned for his safety as well anybody else he may come in contact with."

He says Speedling said he wanted to commit suicide by forcing officers to shoot him. Colonie Police immediately sent out alerts, and State Police later found the man near his home in Middleburgh where he was taken into custody and rushed to the hospital.

Lt. Winn would go on to say that "We're very grateful that none of that happened that he was taken into custody without incident." Mr. Speedling's ex-girlfriend, who is a resident of Cobleskill but has not been identified, was unharmed and owed her safe exit from the escalating situation to the quick thinking of hotel guests and staff management.

 

Mr. Speedling, who is recovering from his self-inflicted wounds, has been remanded to Albany County Jail. No bail has been set at this time.

Winter Storm Hercules to Dump 10+ Inches in Schoharie County

Apparently the New Year will offer no respite to Schoharie County's winter weather woes as another storm front (which the Weather Channel has named Hercules) moves into the region, threatening to dump almost a foot of snow between this evening and Friday morning, on top of three to four inches frozen on the ground from Sunday's weather event.

WNYT is also warning of gusty winds Friday afternoon and evening,
the result of which will be blowing snow and perhaps even twenty to
forty degree sub-zero wind chills in the Adirondacks.

Temperatures are expected to remain brutally cold the next two days - with Thursday's high not likely to top 11 degrees and sub-zero lows in the forecast tonight and tomorrow - which means snowfall will be of the light and fluffy variety, allowing homeowners shovels and commuters automobiles to avoid those unkindly heavy wet snow packs.  

Stay tuned to the Schoharie News weather page as we follow the storm's impact on Schoharie County the next 48 hours.

Schoharie County Legal Directory

The Schoharie News would like to introduce a special promotional page for local attorneys and law offices to advertise their services to residents of Schoharie County in the only internet based legal directory.

 

For $40 per year - local attorneys can submit their photo, a 50-75 word introduction and web address or phone number to be published in this free directory to our readership that visited the Schoharie News 45,000 times in the typically slow news month of December.  Please contact editor Timothy Knight at aaaabraves@yahoo.com, or 518-231-1465 for more information.

EXAMPLE AD:

                                                 
                                                      Shawn Smith, Esq. 518-827-8024

The Law Office of Shawn Smith is located on 1847 Route 30 N. Blenheim, N.Y.

and primarily provides services to people in Schoharie, Delaware, Otsego,

Schenectady and Albany Counties. Mr. Smith practices Criminal Defense Law,

Family Law, Real Estate Law, and Wills and Estates. Mr. Smith also serves as

Town Attorney for the Towns of Fulton and Schoharie, Village Attorney for the
Village of  Cobleskill and Town Supervisor of Blenheim.

 

Top 5 Schoharie County News Stories of 2013

In a little less then twelve hours 2013 will be over and a new year will commence, which from my perspective, will hopefully be as news filled as the previous twelve (four for the Schoharie News) months have been. As such, a run-down of the top five Schoharie County news stories in no particular order.

 

Drugs & Crime

 

From numerous heroin busts in the Village of Cobleskill to marijuana eradication efforts by the Sheriff's Department, clamping down on the sale and production of illegal drugs has been a priority of local law enforcement. In addition to drug enforcement, local police have dealt with the Oorah burglary in Jefferson, the child abuse case in Gallupville and the arrest of a Middleburgh man on weapons charges.

 

Maranatha

 

The Village of Richmondville's cut off of the $5.3 million partially publicly funded facility's electric in early September has led to one report after another detailing the once promising project's failure to meet its debt obligations from day one, which resulted in a notice of foreclosure just two weeks ago. A notable side-story has been a New York City investor Da-Lai Wu's fluid interest in obtaining the facility.

 

"The Report"

 

In a process that originates back to early 2012, the long-awaited Fitzmaurice Report was released into two sections this past fall, which detailed the rise of the now-suspended Personnel Director Cassandra Ethington's control over the Public Health Department. The fallout has resulted in several members of the County Board losing re-election, former Public Health Director Asante Shipp-Hilts resignation and adjustments to personnel in the Public Works Department.

 

Sharon Growth

 

Mayor Doug Plummer said it best when he told the Schoharie News that "the possibilities for Sharon Springs are endless." From hosting festivals that have brought thousands from around the country into the community to watching small businesses spring up and down Main Street, and soon the construction of a Dollar General on Route 20, the growth and success of Sharon Springs has been nothing short of inspiring to the rest of Schoharie County.

 

SAFE Act

 

From countywide condemnations to rallies in opposition, no issue has resulted in a more united Schoharie County politically than Governor Andrew Cuomo's infamous gun control measure, the SAFE Act. Democrat and Republican Supervisors alike on the County Board have supported two separate motions spelling out the county's opposition to both its enactment and use of Schoharie County's seal, name or offices in efforts to enforce the unpopular law.

Shrederis to Run for Schoharie Mayor?

The Schoharie News has learned, through multiple sources with knowledge of the situation that former Town of Schoharie Supervisor and current President of the Schoharie Fire Department Martin Shrederis is considering a run for Mayor in the Village's municipal elections in March 2015.

 

Mr. Shrederis, who served as town supervisor for fourteen years, lost his position atop the town in 2011 to then Councilman Gene Milone and in a heated rematch just two months ago failed to reach even forty percent of the vote despite an higher overall turnout amongst the electorate. A loss that has been attributed to the Fiztmaurice Report's untimely release and his involvement in a political advertisement by the Conservative faction.

 

Recently, Mr. Shrederis made local news for comments concerning the Schoharie Fire Department's construction of a new station and the town's lack of participation in ongoing negotiations with FEMA, telling the Cobleskill paper that "Mr. Milone has no business sticking his nose in fire department business,"  even though current plans call for a local residence to be knocked down, which Mr. Milone finds objectionable.

 

One variable in next March's election is whether incumbent Mayor John Borst decides to run for re-election. Mr. Borst is a well respected and beloved member of the Schoharie community, and would prove himself a difficult task for the former Town Supervisor to overcome in a non-partisan village race, where personality and government success tend to mean more than party affiliation.

Although still fifteen months out, it is definitely an interesting political situation to keep a close eye on.

Notice of Foreclosure Filed Against Maranatha Owner, Facility's Future in Flux

Only two years after opening the $5.3 million Maranatha Family Center in the Town of Richmondville, owner Stella McKenna was served with notice of foreclosure on December 16th by the New York State Business Development Corporation, according to documents published on the Schoharie County Clerk's Office. 

The notice reads "that an action has been commenced and is now pending in the Supreme Court upon the Verified Foreclosure Complaint of the above named Plaintiff against the above named Defendants for the foreclosure of a mortgage in the original principal amount of $1,850,000.00..." 

Maranatha's struggles were first publicized when the Village of Richmondville shut off their electric in early September following months of unpaid bills and thousands in late fees. It has since been discovered that the project had been in trouble from day one, owing everyone from state agencies to local banks and even the federal government. 

At stake for Ms. McKenna is not only the recently built physical fitness complex located on Route 7 in the Town of Richmondville, but Maranatha's original site on Elm Street in the Village of Cobleskill and two personal residences, all of which will be lost as the final grains of sand escape her already depleted hourglass.

New York City investor Da-Lai Wu had signaled renewed interest in obtaining the property after the Town of Richmondville approved a waiver request to Empire State Development to allow different ownership, but to date no deal has been reached between Mr. Wu and Ms. McKenna, leaving the partially publicly funded facility's future in flux.

Schoharie County Acquires Six Volts, Three Highway Trucks Through Federal Grant

In what started as a simple motion at the September 20th, 2013 county board meeting by Gilboa Town Supervisor Tony Van Glad to purchase several low-emission vehicles through the federally funded CMAQ grant, has turned into the talk of Schoharie over the county's recent acquisition of three diesel highway trucks and six Chevy Volts.  

 

 

Two of the Volts parked outside the Department of
Public Works building in the Village of Schoharie

CMAQ, which stands for Congestion Management and Air Quality, is a federally funded program through the Federal Highway Administration that seeks to decrease harmful pollutants and encourage the use of environmentally friendly transportation methods and low-emission vehicles by state and local governments through the use of grants.

 

The Chevy Volt can operate on either gasoline or electric
 

According to county officials, the overall cost for the six vehicles was roughly $900,000 with the CMAQ grant covering 80% of the bill. The Daily Gazette reported on Friday that the Department of Public Works plans on using two of the Volts and both highway trucks, while the other four are available to other agencies in county government.

Follow the Schoharie News on Twitter

 

The Schoharie News has launched an official twitter feed where followers will be able to see the lighter side of the county's only web-based news service and more of the "behind the scenes" work, such as what events we are covering, what stories we're writing up and other daily musings.

 

You can view our twitter feed here. 

County Braces for Artic Cold Front

Winter apparently cannot let 2013 end without one last blast of snowy and brutally cold weather for Schoharie County, which according to WNYT will experience a myriad of conditions over the next 24 hours as a storm moves in from the coast - including rain, sleet and snow - that will be followed by a frigid blast of Artic cold air.

 

Tonight's storm is predicted to bring maybe two to four inches of snow to Schoharie County, with only a dusting expected in the surrounding areas. Hardly worth mentioning after mid-December's foot of snow that created a winter wonderland just a few days too early to enjoy during Christmas.

 

However, what snow we do receive will be rendered insignificant weather wise by an Artic cold front that is forecast to bring single digit to sub-zero low temperatures across the area, stretching from tomorrow night until Saturday. High's aren't expected to be much better with thermometers not likely to reach twenty at all this week.

 

Stay safe and stay warm.



Oorah Hosts Girls for Weekend Retreat, With Most of Stolen Goods Returned

Just weeks after three burglars stole thousands of dollars worth of ATV's, gaming consoles and television screens from Oorah's TheZone Jefferson campsite, over five hundred Jewish girls arrived Thursday evening to enjoy a weekend retreat with most of the stolen goods returned and all of the suspects apprehended.



The T.V. screens were recovered in time for this
weekend's retreat. Photo credit: Oorah facebook

Oorah, a Jewish organization based out of New Jersey, holds weekend retreats through out the winter and summer months for both young boys and girls with two campsites in Schoharie County, one in Jefferson at the old Deer Run Ski Lodge and the other in Gilboa, that together employ dozens of local residents.

Schoharie County Conservative Party Sees 26% Growth Since 2011 Election

The Schoharie County Conservative Party, which has long served as a valuable third-party addition to local and statewide candidates competing in New York's fusion voting system, has not only played a pivotal role in several campaigns the past three off-year election cycles, but has witnessed a dramatic increase in voters within their ranks.

 

Although historically relying on cross-over votes to fuel their third-party line, Schoharie County's branch of the Conservative Party of New York has seen their membership increase 26% in just two years from a little over four hundred party faithful in November 2011 to five hundred and twenty strong just last month.

 

Local Conservatives are primarily clustered in the Towns of Cobleskill (91), Schoharie (55) and Sharon Springs (37), with supporters stretching from sparsely populated Blenheim to politically feisty Gallupville and all the way to sleepy Seward on the opposite end of the county. Their ranks include Town of Wright Supervisor Amber Bleau, suspended county Personnel Director Cassandra Ethington and Cobleskill Stone owner Emil Galasso.

 

According to the New York State Board of Elections, the party remained stagnant in voter registration for years within Schoharie County until November 2011 between April 2012 when over half of their growth occurred. Coincidentally, that was the same period when the party's allies in county government reached their high-water mark.

 

However, Conservatives suffered severe political losses this past November, losing four allies on the Board of Supervisors in addition to watching Todd Ethington's Sheriff campaign self-implode as his wife's role in county corruption was unveiled by the Fitzmaurice Report that also led to their Chairman Bill Hanson's removal from the Public Works Department.

 

Regardless of where they stand now, with only two identifiable allies on the Board of Supervisors, the Schoharie County Conservative Party is a political force to be reckoned with, which is proven by their 26% growth in voter registration since the conclusion of 2011's off-year election and influencing public policy within local government.

Opinion: Embrace the Purity of Winter

  The air was frigid, no, it was crystallized. One of those mornings where the temperature dipped so low it felt as if your breath froze on exhalation, the two atoms of hydrogen to one of oxygen within your body solidified and even simple motion pained your joints.

 

  Of course, the description above could be one of several mornings we have endured thus far this winter - for there have been many cold sunrises - but it relates specifically to the Monday after Schoharie County and the entire region was buried in a foot of snow. Which was immediately followed by a daunting cold front.

 

  For the Editor of this publication, it was bittersweet, as I traded my regular Monday morning routine of attending Professor Pidgeon's Chemistry lecture at SUNY Cobleskill for shoveling a foot of leftover snow in inhumanely cold conditions. Moments that make me reminisce for the perpetual warmth of Fort Benning, Georgia, or even the last streaks of orange in a late August sunset.

 

  But in the midst of those harsh sub-zero, icy temperatures, there was a feeling that is absent from the three other seasons: a sense of purity, or perhaps, a fresh start. For in springtime we witness the birth of the season, while in summer the environment continues to grow and finally in fall, nature retreats to hibernation, and for some, death.

 

  However, winter is different. From its initiation to its conclusion, the season that stretches sometimes from November to April is the very definition of will breaking. It throws snow, frigid temperatures, ice, sub-zero wind chills and everything that results from the wrath of the aforementioned conditions in your daily existence.

 

   It makes or breaks the person and can set the tone for the remaining cycles of life that calendar year. It allows the opportunity to start anew, in conjunction with the New Year falling soon after its annual start, with a clean slate that affords every person the chance to change and prosper... If they can survive its cruelty first.

 

   Cecil B. DeMille's famous narration in The Ten Commandments described Moses' journey across the harsh, dry desert as a tool for the Creator to shape the disgraced Egyptian Prince into his ultimate purpose, the deliverer of his people enslaved in bondage. The harshness of winter can parallel the cruelty of a desert journey, and like Moses, we can all be shaped by its conditions and come out of the fire as not only stronger on the outside, but as a more driven individual from within.

 

 

New Poll Up: Who do you Support for Board Chairman Among the Leading Candidates?

In this new poll, we are asking readers to weigh in on who they support for Schoharie County Board of Supervisors Chairman among the leading candidates: incumbent Phil Skowfoe, former Chairman Earl Van Wormer and Town of Gilboa Supervisor Tony Van Glad.

 

We held a similar poll last month that showed Schoharie Supervisor Gene Milone as the readership's favorite for the position, but this one is narrowed to reflect the political realities of next week's election.

 

The poll will be open until Wednesday and is located on the right-hand sidebar on the Schoharie News website.

Schoharie Central School District Overestimated Expenditures, Gaining $2.2 Million in Unexpected Surplus Since 2008

In an audit recently concluded by the Office of the New York State Comptroller's Division of Local Government and School Accountability, it was revealed that members of the Schoharie Central School Board had "adopted budgets with revenues that were realistic and supported, expenditures were consistently and significantly overestimated," while spending only $676,000 from the school's fund balance when projections had been much higher.

The result of which was nearly $8 million less was spent than was budgeted between the 2008-09 through 2012-13 school years, leaving the Schoharie Central School District with an overall surplus of $2.2 million even after appropriating "on average approximately $1.1 million of unexpected surplus funds each year - totaling more than $5.4 million over five years - to help finance the ensuing year's operations."

 

Although the Comptroller's Office found that District officials legally maintained the unexpended surplus fund balance in compliance with the statutory limit, they condemned the process of over-estimating expenditures and not appropriating fund balance as not transparent to taxpayers, who had their bills unnecessarily increased over the past half-decade to cover expenditures that would not be realized.

Recommendations included the following:

1. The Board and District officials should develop and adopt budgets that include realistic estimates for expenditures based on contractual and historical data.
2. The Board should discontinue the practice of adopting budgets with the appropriation of unexpended surplus funds that will not be used.
3. District officials should develop a plan to use surplus fund balance in a manner that benefits District taxpayers and provides appropriate transparency of the budget process with public disclosure. Appropriate uses of surplus funds could include, but are not limited to: • Funding necessary reserves,   • Paying off debt,   • Funding one-time expenditures, and  • Reducing District property taxes.

 

Superintendent Richard Sherman responded to the Comptroller's Office audit by stating school officials would "endeavor to systematically reduce the overall amount of retained fund balance in order to further ease the burden of taxes on our citizens, as long as we are able to realize our fair share of state aid, and as long as the tax certiorari case is decided favorably."

 

It remains to seen what effect the Comptroller's Office audit will have of the Schoharie Central School District's budgetary practices, which according to the audit include overestimated expenditures in the current budget year that will likely add to the school's ballooning surplus, but the dynamic has changed now that transparency has been introduced into the previously unknown situation.

Poll: Readers Disapprove of Skowfoe's Job Performance

Schoharie News readers, by a large margin, disapprove of incumbent Board Chairman Phil Skowfoe's job performance as head of the embattled Board of Supervisors this past year. Mr. Skowfoe, the Town of Fulton's Supervisor, was elected to the position in January and has overseen the release of the infamous Fitzmaurice Report.

 

Do you approve of County Board Chairman Phil Skowfoe's Job Performance?

 

Yes - (40 votes) - 27%

No - (96 votes) - 64%

Undecided - (12 votes) - 8%

 

This follows an earlier Schoharie News poll that showed Mr. Skowfoe trailing Supervisors Milone of Schoharie, Van Wormer of Esperance, Van Glad of Gilboa and Manko of Sharon Springs for public support to serve as Board Chairman in the new year.

Board of Supervisors Organizational Meeting, Chairman Election Set for January 3rd

The Schoharie County Board of Supervisors voted last week to hold the 2014 county board organizational meeting, which will include the election of a Board Chairman and Vice-Chairman, on Friday, January 3rd at five that evening. The meeting is public and typically lasts only a short length of time.

 

Although incoming members of the County Board will have to make numerous appointments, nominations and conduct other routine new year business, the most important decision made next Friday may be who they select within their number to serve as head of Schoharie County government.

 

Incumbent Board Chairman, Fulton Supervisor Phil Skowfoe, is in good shape numerically to compete for another year at the helm of the county's troubled ship, but insider speculation has both Gilboa Supervisor Tony Van Glad and former Board Chairman Earl Van Wormer as strong candidates for the position as well.

 

Regardless of what direction the Board of Supervisors decide to take, Schoharie County's incoming Board Chairman will have their plate full and the eyes of the entire county on them, as citizens expect change in the aftermath of November's election that saw three incumbents removed from power and overall six new faces elected into the fray.

Opinion: Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Editors note: The following editorial, perhaps the most famous ever written, was published by the New York Sun in response to a young girl's inquiry if the legendary Saint Nicholas did truly exist. This instant Christmas classic was penned by Francis Pharcellus Church in 1897.

 

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

 

Dear Editor,

 

I am 8 years old.

 

Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth: Is there a Santa Claus?

 

Virginia O'Hanlon

115 W. 95th St.

 

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except (what) they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

 

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

 

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

 

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

 

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

 

Town of Wright Man Arrested for Felony DWI

The New York State Troopers issued the following press release on Saturday, December 21st, 2013:

On 12/21/13 the New York State Police in Princetown arrested Jonathan M. Summers, 35, of Wright, NY for Felony Driving While Intoxicated and Felony Aggravated Unlicensed Operation 1st Degree.  Troopers stopped Summers in the Town of Duanesburg for parking partially in the roadway on Gallupville Road.  During the traffic stop, Summers was found to be intoxicated and he was charged with Felony DWI and Felony AUO 1st after a computer check revealed that he had a prior DWI conviction within the past 10 years.  It was determined that Summers had a blood alcohol content of .09%.  Summers was processed without incident and is scheduled to appear in the Town of Duanesburg Court on 01/06/14 at 7:00PM.

 

Central Bridge Fire Department Hosts Santa at Community Pancake Breakfast

The Central Bridge Fire Department hosted a successful community pancake breakfast Sunday morning that featured a special guest straight from the North Pole, good 'ole Saint Nicholas, who gave his time this busy holiday season to take pictures with local children in a particularly jolly manner right before Christmas.

Chief Johnson (left) and President Hofmann pose with Santa

Members of the department, who serve as the backbone of the small hamlet located between the Towns of Schoharie and Esperance, came out in full force and volunteered to help during every step of the event from pictures with Santa to serving hungry customers who donated what they could to Central Bridge's finest and everything in between.

In addition to good food and friends, hugs were also available

According to post-event estimates, approximately one hundred and twenty-five people attended the pancake breakfast, which raised four to five hundred dollars for the small community fire department and exceeded that of last year's pre-Christmas event.