ICC vet posthumously awarded high school diploma

by EMILIA TEASDALE

Pictured (l-r) are Ichabod Crane Board of Education President Matthew Nelson, District Superintendent Suzanne Guntlow, Tiffany Buono and High School Principal Craig Shull. Photo contributed

KINDERHOOK—The Ichabod Crane Board of Education passed a motion at the July 12 board meeting to grant a high school diploma to veteran Michael Buono as part of the state Education Department’s Operation Recognition. The program allows eligible veterans to earn high school diplomas if they left school without graduating.

High School Principal Craig Shull presented information about Mr. Buono to the board at the start of the meeting. Mr. Buono, who died in May of 2021 at the age of 37 from multiple illnesses incurred as a result of his combat service, was born in the Town of Stuyvesant and attended Ichabod from 1988 to 2001. He received his GED. He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd. Marines, Fox Company, Weapons Platoon and had served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Shull said that Mr. Buono served in the Marine Corps from 2006 to 2010 and earned the rank of Lance Corporal, winning several service medals and honors.

Mr. Shull also pointed out that Mr. Buono was involved in this community. Mr. Buono’s obituary said he was “a member of Valatie Rescue EMS- EMT, a Niverville Fire Fighter for 16 years and earlier an intermittent member of the Stuyvesant Fire Department.”

Mr. Buono’s widow, Tiffany, was awarded the diploma at the meeting held in the High School auditorium. Board President Matthew Nelson thanked everyone who came out for the presentation. Read more…

State says Hecate not done yet

by DIANE VALDEN

COPAKE—Hecate Energy’s application for a 60 megawatt (MW) industrial scale solar facility called Shepherd’s Run in this small rural town still remains incomplete, according to Deputy Copake Supervisor Richard Wolf.

Additionally, last month, Hecate sent out a “Dear Copake Neighbor” letter which attempts to paint Hecate as a community partner, he said.

In his monthly solar project update at the July 14 Town Board meeting, Councilman Wolf, the town’s point-man on all things Hecate, recounted that May 9 the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) issued Hecate a Notice of Incomplete Application, and presented the developer with a 20-page list of additional information Hecate must submit for ORES’ review before it determines whether the Shepherd’s Run application is complete.

A week prior, on May 2, the ad hoc Working Group pointed out to ORES that the application Hecate had filed was missing important, required information. Hecate responded to the Working Group’s complaint by submitting 84 additional items to be filed with the ORES application. “Even this wasn’t enough,” Mr Wolf wrote. Read more…

What a day for a street fair

by LEO TEASDALE-ULRICH

CABA (Chatham Area Business and Arts) held its annual celebration, Summerfest, in the village on July 9. The event was sponsored by Metzwood Insurance Co. and area vendors lined Main Street on the sunny day. Around 1:30, the band Brasskill (pictured) led the annual Summerfest Parade, ending at Chatham Brewing. The musicians performed for the crowd in front of the municipal parking on Main Street. The day included food trucks, music performances, political candidates, stilt dancers, kids’ activities and a free movie at the Crandell Theatre. Photo by Leo Teasdale-Ulrich

Anti-abortion hate speech pops up in Ghent

by PARRY TEASDALE

This sign was posted during the night in front of a Town of Ghent home. Photo contributed

GHENT—There’s no summer vacation for hate speech. Some time between Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10 handmade signs appeared on the front lawns of two county homes. Both had the same message. It read: “BABY KILLERS LIVE HERE.”

One of the signs was at the home of Route 9 resident Christopher Burke. Mr. Burke has no idea who posted the handwritten, makeshift lawn sign. It’s mounted on metal frame typical of political lawn signs.

In the last few years signs Mr. Burke said that he’s put signs on his property in support of Joe Biden and local Democratic candidates. Those signs were stolen or vandalized.

Just before press deadline another Ghent resident reported that a sign with the same wording was placed at his residence. He said he had a small Biden-Harris campaign sticker from the 2020 election on his mailbox post. The president’s name was scratched off. Read more…

It’s been a long time coming for this queen

by DIANE VALDEN

The top section of the flower stalk is loaded with buds. Photo by Diane Valden

COPAKE—They never treated it like royalty. They thought it was just some kind of cactus.

But when it started acting strange, this plant got their attention.

Thirty years ago, maybe more, Diane and Tom Cinque bought a little plant that looked sort of like an artichoke, except the leaves were darker green and edged in white.

Mr. Cinque likes cactuses, he told The Columbia Paper in an interview this week. He has several and he thought it would make a nice addition to his collection.

Sitting in a cozy sunroom off the deck of their Copake home, they told a reporter they don’t remember where they picked it up, maybe a nursery in New Jersey when they were visiting friends.

They do know it came in a four-inch pot and it didn’t cost more than three bucks.

Every year since they’ve had the plant, Mr. Cinque has followed the same routine: giving it a little water, a little fertilizer; putting it outside on the deck when the weather warms up and bringing it inside the sunroom when the weather gets cold.

The sunroom is not heated and the temperature can get down to 20 degrees in the winter.

He has repotted the plant a few times over the years, so now it’s in a 16-inch pot on wheels. The plant itself is about a foot high and wide.

This year, not too long after the plant took up residence outdoors in May, it started sprouting a long thin stalk from the middle of its rosette. Read more…