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Another crazy March week. We get a hint of the warm days to come, then BOOM the wind blows in the cold. The sun is so bright though, that we can turn our heat down during the day to conserve on fuel. I have been able to hang my laundry on the line again, the first day I waded through the sno…

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Tannersville was rocked over the weekend when inspectors working the 2023 election in the village were accused of harassment, discrimination and fraud.

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“Climate Smart Communities is part of New York State’s overall strategy to address climate change, to try to mitigate it from getting too bad and to adapt to whatever change we have to adapt to as it happens over the next few years and decades,” Columbia County Climate Smart Communities Coor…

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You know volunteer firefighters in New York State and in Greene and Columbia counties are in dire straits when somebody wants to put money for them in the state budget.

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It occurred to me the other day that there is an area of education that has blatantly been ignored. There is no training program for senior or about to be senior drivers! There are the driver education programs for beginning drivers, training programs for driving large trucks, schools for co…

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As I became more involved with the intervention and training of shelter dogs in the ‘70s and ‘80s, with a significant increase in my time commitment during the 1990s with the proliferation of independent rescues in the mid 2000s to today, much of my involvement centered on the health problem…

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If Philmont plays its cards right, the village will get a state-of-the-art housing development and all the benefits that come from it, and something else — a haven for the American bald eagle. Clover Reach Partners wants to build 16 houses on 22 acres of steeply sloped, forested terrain abov…

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Round Two of Greenville parents vs. the Greenville Central School Board of Education went by narrow decision to the parents. And the fight ended Monday night with what this war over a book has been about all along: Transparency.

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Welcome Spring! Of course you wouldn’t have known it was coming last week when we had snow and then the wind. But, as all spring snow does, the sun came out, and the snow started to melt. Watching the deer come out looking for a bare spot to graze is a suppertime event. There were only a few…

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New York’s volunteer firefighters are saving taxpayers over $4 billion annually, and the state firefighters association is hoping legislators will take steps to ensure volunteer departments can continue to operate and provide those savings. In 2020, there were 6,944 active career firefighter…

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The Register-Star March 18-19 weekend edition contained two front page stories featuring U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro. The congressman was the special guest at the Lincoln Awards Dinner honoring the services of Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Flaherty. Both articles, by Jammel Cutler, contain ample quoted…

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As we leave winter and move toward post-pandemic Memorial Day revivals and the reasons we celebrate the Fourth of July, we tip our hat to Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Flaherty and his heroism in wartime and peacetime.

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Coxsackie Mayor Mark Evans will face a challenge from newcomer Veronica Foley on Tuesday, one of many surprises in the 2023 village elections. Another surprise is the lack of contested races in Columbia County. Nobody saw that coming.

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You think you’ve done the right thing. You removed that backyard biological desert, your fertilizer and herbicide hungry lawn. In its place, you planted a meadow of native grasses and wildflowers to nourish bees, butterflies and other pollinators. You are savoring the resulting explosion of …

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I don’t know why it fascinates me but it does. It’s kind of like coming upon a bad accident while motoring about. I always say a quick little prayer for the safety of those involved but I’ve got to look even though I don’t really want too. It’s like that with The Home and Garden Channel. I k…

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In the last three and a half years, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany when the Child Victims Act became law. Under the law, adults who claimed they were victims of child sex abuse had a one-year look-back window in which civil cases could be fi…

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The question of civility at local government meetings used to crop up as often as an appearance by Hailey’s Comet, but it is being asked amid the controversy swirling around Hunter Village Mayor Michael Papa and his behavior at recent board of trustees meetings. The furor over his alleged fu…

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Smoking rates have dropped dramatically since the 1960s when approximately 42% of Americans smoked. Today, less than 12% of adult New Yorkers smoke, and smoking among high school students is at an all-time low of less than 3% — down 91% from 2000. So why are cigarettes still being portrayed …

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Carol Constable got the best birthday present ever — a great grandson born on Carol’s birthday, March 7. The proud parents of Wyatt James, 7 lbs 13 oz., are Cassandra Constable and Corey Laframboise of California. Cassandra is the daughter of Michael and Connie Constable. Everyone is happy a…

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I decided to hold off my writing until Tuesday this week to see if the snowstorm was really going to happen. Well, I guess the answer is YES. What a beautiful sight as I look out my dining room window. The spruce trees are bedecked with their mantle of snow and big flakes are making the worl…

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In March, Questar III coordinates two annual weekend activities that impact hundreds of students locally and across the state. These hands-on programs, while unrelated, share some similarities.

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What would the loss of $1,423,509 in federal Medicaid funding mean for Columbia County taxpayers? Under the 2023 budget, for comparison’s sake, this would equal an estimated 3.5 percent tax increase in everyone’s tax bill.

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Take one look at the roads we travel daily to get to work or school or recreation, and you’ll see that we agree with Republican Assemblyman Chris Tague: Raise New York State’s proposed investment for the local roads programs Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program, or CHIPS…

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David Lochbaum of Holtec and a member of the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board, confirmed a Japanese study’s general conclusion that exposure to radioactive waste corresponds to higher cancer rates. But recent studies of the aquatic life and vegetation in areas surrounding Indian …

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Homes that turn 50 years old this year. The amenities are aging. They’re no longer sustainable structures. We’re talking about Hudson’s Bliss Towers and Columbia Apartments on the city’s waterfront.

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In her Feb. 1 budget address, Governor Hochul asked if her administration has “met the moment” of making the New York dream a reality for all New Yorkers.

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Soon after beginning dog training sessions with me, my new handlers or “pack leaders” are referring to their leashes as umbilical cords. Armed with melt-in-your-mouth goodies for their dog’s minimum-wage-paying jobs, aprons to hold these bags of treats or “wages,” properly-fitted, appropriat…

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Four cars in a train heading south on the railroad trestle through Catskill broke loose when the train derailed and plummeted onto Main Street in a spectacular derailment in 1978. The cars, all tankers, were empty when they fell. Had they been fully loaded with oil or other hazardous materia…

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In Steven Spielberg’s military drama “War Horse” (2011), a young man enlists to serve in World War I after his beloved horse is sold to the cavalry.