Roxbury — The Roxbury Central School and the Roxbury Teachers’ Association have agreed to terms for a three-year contract beginning July 1, 2013.

The agreement, which was finalized on February 7, calls for an annual salary increase of 1.6 percent plus $200 for each teacher, along with an annual increase of one percent in the amount of the health insurance premium paid by the teachers.

RCS Board President Ed Fersch stated that he was pleased with both the agreement and the fact that it had been reached so quickly.

By Jay Braman Jr.
With the dust barely settled after a local ruckus over new state gun laws in Shandaken (see related story above), a larger dust-up is expected in Kingston next week when the Ulster County Legislature mulls passage of a measure that calls for the New York State Safe Act to be brought before a firing squad.

The SAFE Act, enacted last month as a ban on assault weapons, has drawn fire from gun enthusiasts and defenders of the United States Constitution.

By Joe Moskowitz
Terry Doyle had no children, but loved them dearly.
Terry Doyle had no pets, but was a strong supporter of Delhi’s Heart and Soul of the Catskills animal shelter.

Terry Doyle did not sing and played no instruments, but he was almost unquestionably the biggest supporter of local musical talent.
And baked really good cookies.

His many friends say Terry Doyle had a heart of gold, but on February 6, his heart failed him and Terry Doyle died of complications following a heart attack. He was 46.

By Jay Braman Jr.
It appears that the region’s second term congressman Chris Gibson will face a new challenger should he run again next year.
Gibson, who was first elected to Congress in 2010 to represent the 112th district, was elected again last year to represent the 19th Congressional District after district lines were redrawn.
Gibson, a Republican, beat out Democrat Julian Schreibman last November, and has recently set up five offices within his 11-county district, with the closest to the Catskills being in Kingston and Liberty.

By Jay Braman Jr.
The chairman of the Catskill Mountain Railroad refuses to give up hope that there will one day be trains running between Kingston and Highmount even though Ulster County is taking steps to dismantle the railway and sell it for scrap.

CMRR Chair Harry Jameson issued a written appeal to County Executive Mike Hein after Hein outlined the demise of the railway in his recent State of the County Address.

Arkville — Introduced in the early 1900s, the Eurasian Boar now ranges freely in at least 39 states.  The species differs from domestic swine by having an elongate head and coarse, dark hair. Transported across county and state lines to stock hunting preserves, populations of escaped Eurasian Boar have sprung up far from their original source.

By Jay Braman Jr.
An anti-gun control resolution brought forward by Town of Shandaken Councilman Vincent Bernstein Monday received suppressing fire from residents who insisted the language in the resolution did not reflect the sentiments of the townsfolk.

Regardless, the measure was passed anyway, despite an almost unanimous cry against it.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Last Wednesday was a most unusual day at the Town of Shandaken Highway Department.
First, according to Town Supervisor Rob Stanley, in the early morning hours, an administrative employee of the highway department was suspended without pay following concerns raised by Stanley and Highway Department Superintendent Eric Hofmeister.

Then, in the evening, fire destroyed three highway department trucks that were parked behind the very same highway garage where state police earlier were investigating the department’s office.

By Brian Sweeney
A 58-year-old Warwick resident was killed in one-car accident on Saturday afternoon in the Town of Andes.

Karen A. Lane was driving north on county Route 2 (Cabin Hill Road) shortly after 5:30 p.m. when her vehicle veered off the road and turned over several times. Ms. Lane, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the 2002 Toyota Solara.

Deputies from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department responded to the accident. Undersheriff Craig DuMond indicated that the initial investigation lists excessive speed as the cause of the accident.

By Jay Braman Jr.
After a year-and-a-half of hard work, Maverick Family Health reopened its office in Boiceville earlier this week. Floodwaters from Hurricane Irene had badly damaged the facility in August of 2011.
During the hurricane, three feet of water rushed in and demolished everything in the high tech medical office. The building itself, which Maverick partners, Randy Rissman, Martin Krakower, and Brian Callahan acquired and renovated only a few months before the storm, was severely damaged, leaving not only Maverick without offices but several other tenants as well.