Tannersville News

By Jim Planck

HUNTER — Long-time school community servant Gerry Loucks of East Jewett was selected by fellow Hunter-Tannersville Board of Education members to lead the district as its new board president at Thursday night’s annual organizational meeting.

Incumbent board vice president Brian Byrne was picked to continue on in that position.

Loucks follows former board member Brian Wilson of Lexington as president. Wilson was unsuccessful in his re-election bid to the board in the May district-wide ballot.

A retired 30-year ONC-BOCES teacher who previously served on the HTC board from 1995-2002 — including a stint as board president the final year — Loucks was then returned to the board by appointment in September 2007, after which he was re-elected to a five-year term in 2008.

In short, he is no newcomer to the job — to neither the field of education, nor to the role of elected representative.

Quadricentennial volume links Hudson Valley, north to south

By Jim Planck

HENSONVILLE — In conjunction with the 2009 Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial, noted local history publisher Black Dome Press, of Hensonville, has released a companion volume to its popular Catskill and Capital District “Trails with Tales” book.

The new work focuses on the upper headwaters region of the river, as well as the greater Lake Champlain area, as reflected in its title, “Adirondack Trails with Tales.”

Staff Reports

State police say the suspect appeared to display a handgun

CATSKILL — State Police at Catskill and Town of Windham Police said Tuesday that they have arrested Dominick V. Leo, 18, of Hensonville for robbery in the 2nd degree, a class C Felony.

Greene County 911 dispatch received a call from a person reporting that someone had broken into a motor vehicle. Responding patrols located the vehicle, a 1999 Subaru Legacy being operated by Leo on Route 23 in the Town of Durham.

Staff Reports

A Tannersville man was arrested Sunday morning for driving while intoxicated in the town of Saugerties, according to authorities.

Scott O. Myers, 56, was arrested at 2:10 a.m. after he was stopped along Route 32 by patrolman Paul Gambino, of the town of Saugerties Police Department.

Photo by Jim Planck

By Jim Planck

TANNERSVILLE — Officials, administrators, faculty, and staff at Hunter-Tannersville Central School District proudly graduated 52 young adults into the world Saturday morning at HTC’s 78th Commencement.

The class size, a large one for the district, contained some of the brightest and the best that will help take part in the future of the nation and the world.

HTC Superintendent of Schools Patrick Darfler-Sweeney, citing Ralph Waldo Emerson, told those present that nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Team finishes 8th among 35 schools from around the globe

Photo by Jim Planck

By Jim Planck

TANNERSVILLE — Hunter-Tannersville Central School District was represented with excellence at the annual Odyssey of the Mind World Competition in Ames, Iowa, last month, with HTC’s team taking 8th place in a field of 35 competitors in their category from, literally, all over the world.

The competition was held at Iowa State University.

HTC’s “Teach Yer Creature” team was comprised of junior Jesse Conklin, sophomores Amanda Sylak, Joachim Koka, Dylan Outrim, Kyle Friedman, and freshman Zachary Tripsas, who are the same six that went to World Competition in College Park, Md., last year at the University of Maryland, where they took the Third Place trophy in their division.

All told, HTC has seen strong representation at the World Competition from these team members. Counting this year, Outrim and Sylak have been there four times, Koka three times, and Tripsas, Conklin, and Friedman twice. The location rotates around the U.S.

By Susan Campriello

CATSKILL — Investigators seized drugs and other items of interest from the Palenville home where a couple was shot Wednesday morning, according to State Police at Catskill.

Police said they found marijuana plants and drug paraphernalia in the house on Pennsylvania Avenue shared by Lucian Haid, 28, his wife Taryn Haid, 23, and alleged gunman Robert N. Wilkinson, 23, of Pine Plains, until the evening before the shooting.

State police said that Wilkinson opened fire on his erstwhile roommates with an AR-15 owned by Lucian Haid in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Here’s what to do

Picture by Ruth Dibbell-Hoyt

By Claude Haton

CAIRO — “We have a lot of bears living amongst a lot of people in the Catskills,” DEC Wildlife Biologist Larry Bifaro said Wednesday. “The best thing to do if you encounter a bear is just back away.”

Bifaro’s comments came in response to reports of bear sightings in the Canniff Road area of Cairo earlier this week. Residents there contacted the Daily Mail to report the sighting of a mother and two cubs foraging for food in the area. Their concern was for school children waiting for the school bus.

The sightings began earlier this week. Marietta Gardner said she heard the bears before she saw them during a cookout.

“We heard them coming through the woods while we were grilling.” she said Wednesday.

Formal disciplinary action approved in unanimous vote

By Jim Planck

HUNTER — The Hunter-Tannersville Board of Education formally suspended without pay a tenured teacher from employment Thursday following an executive session.

The resolution enacting the suspension was unanimously adopted by board members in a 5-0 vote, and stated it was the result of the district having determined that “probable cause” existed regarding charges to bring a disciplinary proceeding against the tenured teacher.

The district is prohibited by law from naming the employee.

However, HTC received notice from NYS Commissioner of Education Richard Mills in May that the administrative and teaching certificates of Phys Ed director, teacher, and coach Randy Mudge were suspended by Mills for one year following a two-and-a-half year formal SED review on a “Question of Moral Character.”

Photo and story by Melanie Lekocevic

WINDHAM — With the focus these days on environmental issues and conservation of natural resources, awards were bestowed this weekend on those who have worked for years to restore Ten Mile Creek in Oak Hill.

Student winners of an annual countywide poster and essay contest were also honored for their work that embodied the message of environmental preservation.

The Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District also handed out awards to the annual winners of the organization’s poster and essay contest, which is designed to encourage children to learn about the environment and to recognize the importance of its preservation.

Both winners in the contest hail from the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District, and are sixth graders. Gaea Turman was the winner of the poster contest, and Luke Rasmussen took home the award for the essay contest.

“Each year, we hold an Environmental Awareness Day at the Agroforestry Center, which is open to all sixth graders in the county,” said Jeff Flack, executive director of Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District. “Throughout the day, they learn about environmental topics and how they themselves fit into the environment. We want to encourage kids to realize they are a part of the environment, and to treat it well.”

WNYT Staff Report

PALENVILLE - Police found a marijuana growing operation at a murder scene in Greene County.

Twenty-three-year old Robert Wilkinson is accused of shooting Lucian and Taryn Haid in the driveway of a home in Palenville. Lucein Haid was killed while Taryn Haid was injured.

All three lived together in the house.

Police do not know what role the marijuana played in the murder that occurred Wednesday morning.

Photo by: Michael Ryan

By Michael Ryan

MOUNTAINTOP — Somewhere in the surrounding mountains, the slumbering spirit of Rip Van Winkle is stirring, summoning others to similarly awaken to the Catskills.

As the legendary sleeper rises, no time is being wasted following through on local plans to create and auction off statues of him, ultimately placing them in every town and village on the mountaintop.

It is hoped the cast stone Rips will inspire modern day folks to visit the places author Washington Irving immortalized in his famous short story, written in the early 19th Century.

Suspect identified as Robert Wilkinson of Pine Plains

Photo: Claude Haton/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

By Susan Campriello

CATSKILL — Neighbors of a husband and wife shot Wednesday morning in Palenville said the couple was quiet and appeared to keep to themselves.

Few neighbors said they even knew who lived in the house at 59 Pennsylvania Ave., where, according to State Police in Kingston, just before 2 a.m., 23-year-old Robert N. Wilkinson of Pine Plains, Dutchess County, allegedly opened fire with a .223-caliber rifle on the man and woman.

State police said Wilkinson apparently shot Lucian Haid, 28, and his wife Taryn, 23, in their driveway following a dispute among the trio earlier in the morning.

Whispering Hills proprietor fails to post $2,000 for care of the animals

By Colin DeVries

CATSKILL — A Lexington horse farm owner has been stripped of five horses after being charged with animal cruelty and failure to pay for their care.

Tomas L. Hidaka, proprietor of Whispering Hills Horse Farm in Lexington, failed to post $2,000 on June 10 for the monthly care of five horses taken from his farm on May 23. He was charged with five counts of failure to provide proper sustenance, a misdemeanor under state Agriculture and Markets Law.

According to Columbia-Greene Humane Society/S.P.C.A. President Ron Perez, Hidaka had been charged with the same crime on April 5, and was charged in December 2008 with failure to provide adequate shelter.

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

Staff Report

HUNTER - A 32-year-old Georgia man fell to his death while hiking at Kaaterskill Falls Saturday.

The New York State Police at Catskill reported that Jeremy W. Mullins, 32, of Savannah, Ga., succumbed to injuries after he slipped and fell from a trail adjacent to the Kaaterskill Falls in the town of Hunter.

Mullins fell approximately 60 feet, striking the rocks below the trail.

Village board says 3-day concert was logistical, economic success

By Jim Planck

HUNTER — The Village of Hunter Board of Trustees said that last weekend’s Mountain Jam V went smoothly considering the size of the event, and noted its economic benefit to the community.

“The community made money,” said Hunter Village Mayor William Maley. “Local people got employment.”

Maley said visitors came to the community from all over, and noted that guests at his bed-and-breakfast were from such diverse locations as Toronto, San Francisco, and Arizona.

“These are things that are good for the community,” said Maley.

Debris to be picked up along stretch of Schoharie Creek

By Jim Planck

HUNTER — Students from the Hunter-Tannersville elementary school will be lending a helping hand for clean water and the environment on Friday with a stream clean-up along a portion of the Schoharie Creek through the village of Hunter.

The event is being coordinated by Hunter elementary 5th and 6th grade science teacher Sharon Sofranko, and the public is invited to join in.

Sofranko said Monday that one reason for the event is that Earth Day, in April, seems to often have inclement weather, so Friday’s event is, to a degree, a make-up day.

Friday’s activity will also give students the chance to interact with adults on the environment.

Teacher Randy Mudge accused of inappropriate conduct with two female students

By Jim Planck

ALBANY — The teaching and administrative certificates of a popular and longtime Phys Ed director, teacher and coach at Hunter-Tannersville Central School District have been suspended for one year by state Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills.

The action was taken by Mills against HTC faculty member Randy Mudge on May 18, following a two-and-a-half-year review of a Dec. 15, 2006 formal SED filing called a “Notice of Substantial Question of Moral Character.”

In that filing — which was also signed by Mills — the state Education Department states it received information alleging Mudge “engaged in an inappropriate physical, intimate and/or sexual relationship with a female student” in the 1988-89 school year, and again with a different female student during the 1991-92 school year.

Quick response credited with saving Mountain Valley facility

By Susan Campriello

HUNTER — Dozens of volunteers battled a fire Tuesday afternoon at the Mountain Valley Health Resort at 48 Clover Road in Hunter.

Firefighters from companies in the Village of Hunter, Haines Falls, Hensonville, Lanesville, and Tannersville responded to the emergency, according to Hunter Fire Company Chief John LaVeglia.

End of winter slumber puts community on notice By Colin DeVries

HUNTER — The winter-long slumber for the great American black bear has been over for about three months — a fact which came as a rude awakening to some residents in Hunter over the holiday weekend.

On Monday, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Environmental Conservation received complaints of bears getting a little too friendly with Hunter residents.

According to DEC spokesperson Rick Georgeson three bears, a mother and two yearlings, were shot by law enforcement and DEC officials after they were reported to have entered four homes in the area.