By Julia Green
The Middletown Town Board has secured over $1.1 in grant funds and approximately $800,000 in low-interest loan money to offset the nearly $2 million price tag attached to necessary upgrades to the Arkville Water System.
The board will outline its financial plan and additional information at a public information meeting to be held on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the town hall.

By Matthew J. Perry
On Monday evening, Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Congresswoman of New York’s 20th district, voted against a bill that would have approved a bailout package for the nation’s financial sector. The bill failed to pass in the House of Representatives by a vote of 228-205.
Gillibrand released the following statement to explain her vote: “While I am fully aware of the seriousness of the financial problems in the market, I do not believe the bill Congress voted on today was the right approach. The bill has insufficient oversight and protections and does not address the root causes of the crisis or the poor economy."

By Jay Braman Jr.
Ulster County Legislature Chairman David Donaldson proposed last week that Ulster, Greene and Delaware counties team up to institute a “Catskill Regional Ski Pass” that would allow skiers to ski at any of the resorts in the Catskill Region.
But so far the idea has received a chilly reception from one of the region’s biggest ski centers and only a curious look from another.

Information on the potential for natural gas drilling in the Catskills is now available from the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC). The CWC, as a public service, is offering a packet of basic information culled from various sources for landowners, municipal officials and Catskills residents interested in or concerned about the possibility for natural gas exploration in the Marcellus shale formation.

By Julia Green
A capacity crowd turned out for Wednesday’s meeting of the Roxbury Planning Board, at which representatives for wind turbine company Invenergy and LaBella Associates were in attendance.
Roxbury Planning Board Chairman Joe Farleigh began the meeting by rebuking implications in an e-mail sent by the Western Catskill Preservation Alliance (WCPA) that LaBella Associates is “on Invenergy’s payroll.” Farleigh emphasized that payment is made to the town, which is then held in escrow, and suggested that comments implying otherwise were “offensive to the LaBella folks who have been working diligently” in the process.

By Jay Braman Jr.
The man who has been described as the final authority over proposed drastic budget cuts to the state-owned Belleayre Ski Center has been invited to visit the facility and the region next month for a quick lesson on the local economy, and what would happen to it if those cuts were allowed.
This is the latest ripple effect from news two weeks ago that Belleayre faces a difficult season this year due to budget cuts. While no specific figures have been released, staffers and local officials have heard of 181 job cuts, with fewer trails and fewer chair lifts operating

By Matthew J. Perry
The Andes Central School Board of Education addressed the hard reality of declining enrollment Thursday, and also listened to calls for tax relief from members of the school district. Yet the board also gave a demonstration of the school’s new website, and somehow managed to inject optimism and can-do spirit into what might have been a grim opening to the administration’s school year.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Locals residents, business owners and employees of Belleayre Mountain Ski Center came out in droves Saturday morning to a rally put on by the Coalition to Save Belleayre, the organization that blew the whistle on what many consider to be life-threatening budget cuts proposed for the state-run facility.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Following an announcement last week that the annual Belleayre Mountain Ski Center Fall Festival was being cancelled, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) quickly followed up with another announcement, saying that the popular event would instead be moved to Arkville.
The 29th annual Belleayre Fall Festival will be held Columbus Day weekend, but at a new location thanks to a partnership announced last week by the DEC and the Delaware and Ulster Railroad. The festival will take place on October 11-12 at the Delaware and Ulster Railroad on Route 28 in Arkville.