In voting on Tuesday, the Margaretville Central School budget passed with a vote of 159 to 48. Terry Johnson was elected to a seat on the Board of Education, defeating current board member Randy Moore. Johnson received 134 votes to Moore's 72.
Other budget vote results will be updated as they become available.

By Geoff Samuels
A curious and unauthorized version of a law that was passed by the Middletown Town Board in July of 2012 has surfaced at the New York Department of State (DOS). The doctored document was discovered after Middletown Attorney John Fairbairn, at the request of Margaretville Mayor Diana Cope, asked the DOS to send a copy of the law back to the town for review.

By Brian Sweeney
An early Tuesday morning fire destroyed an multi-use commercial building just east of Arkville.
The fire at the Tinker’s Village complex was discovered about 4 a.m. by a passing motorist. By the time the alarm sounded, the building was fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters from Margaretville, Arkville, Fleischmanns, Halcottsville and Big Indian responded to the scene, but there was no chance to save the old wooden structure.

By Joe Moskowitz
State police already have their hands full trying to track down whoever is responsible for series of burglaries in Margaretville, but now they are looking for someone who has taken a bold, different approach, going through the roof.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Sixty-six years later, Odell Reynolds remembers it like it was yesterday.
In the summer of 1947, at age 20, he was part of a four-man crew charged with the task of cutting trees to clear a road up a steep Catskills mountainside for a new project. Armed with nothing but axes and bow saws, the team carved out a way in for construction crews that would come the following year to build the Belleayre Ski Center.

Memorial Day services to honor veterans of the Fleischmanns and Margaretville areas will be celebrated Monday, May 27 with American Legion Post 216 coordinating the activities.
There will be a parade and service in both Fleischmanns and Margaretville. The parade in Fleischmanns will form in front of the fire hall on Main Street at 8:45 a.m. with a start at 9 a.m. The parade will proceed to the Skene Memorial Library where there will be a wreath laying ceremony, the mayor will speak and the Margaretville Central School Band will perform.

By Joe Moskowitz
Two more years.
Andes Supervisor Marty Donnelly hopes to remain in office for at least that long. The Catskill Mountain News recently reported that Donnelly had undergone a procedure for carotid stenosis. Donnelly was suffering from a 93-percent blockage to one of the arteries that supplies blood to his brain.

By Joe Moskowitz
The long career of Middletown Town Justice Glen George has apparently come to a sudden, and to many, shocking end.
The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has removed George from the bench citing misconduct, which goes back to the year 2000. It was the opinion of eight judges on the panel that George is “unfit for judicial office.” Two judges disagreed, and one did not vote.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Thanks to recently installed video surveillance cameras, the man who allegedly broke into the American Legion Hall in Phoenicia on Saturday night is now behind bars in the Ulster County Jail.
New York State Police in Kingston have announced the arrest of Daniel P. Tuohy, 45, of Lagrangeville for third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer, DWI, and numerous traffic offenses.
On Saturday police responded to a burglary alarm at the American Legion Post 950, located at 1045 Old Route 28 in the Town of Shandaken.

By Joe Moskowitz
Next Tuesday is a big day for public school administrators across New York as voters decide whether to accept or reject budget proposals for the 2013-14 school year. And this year two area districts have contested races for board of education seats.