Anti-casino campaign uses billboard, web

YOUNGSVILLE, NY — As part of its campaign against casinos in the area, Catskill Mountainkeeper has set up a billboard just east of Exit 116 on Route 17, near the Sullivan County border in Orange County. The billboard shows a heavily congested country highway at dusk with the words: “What’s the point of living in the Catskills if the traffic’s as bad as in the city?” It then urges Catskill residents and visitors to “Say no to casinos in the Catskills” and directs them to the group’s website, www.CatskillMountainkeeper.org.

Also part of the campaign is a page on the website that allows visitors to send a message to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who currently is considering an application for a casino at the Monticello Raceway The message reads, in part: “With one or more casinos, traffic congestion on Rte. 17 — the region’s major artery — and other roads will increase to intolerable levels. That’s the last thing we need in the Catskills.”

Kempthorne must decide on an application from the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, based along the St. Lawrence River in northern New York and Canada, for a Class III gambling facility that would include a 667,000- square-foot casino with 3,000 slot machines.

South Fallsburg fire district gets grant

SOUTH FALLSBURG, NY — The South Fallsburg Fire District has been awarded a $99,750 federal grant to purchase 21 sets of new self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) units for their volunteers to replace outdated equipment.

The funds come from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, which is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA), and were secured with the help of Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY). The congressman has also sponsored a number of workshops across his district to help fire departments successfully navigate the grant application process, and is the author of the SERVE (Supporting Emergency Responders’ Volunteer Efforts) Act, which would provide a $1,000 federal tax credit to individuals who are active members of volunteer firefighting and EMS organizations. The congressman plans to reintroduce that bill in the near future.

Cats seized on cruelty complaint

COCHECTON, NY — Police seized 82 cats living in the basement of a house owned by Gloria Smith on August 24 after reports of animal cruelty. The cats were in cages stacked two and three high, with excrement and dirty newspaper in the cages, and inadequately ventilated, according to Undersheriff Eric Chaboty. Sixty dogs, who are kept in cages outside, were deemed to have adequate care and were left on the property.

The cats were taken to the farm of Liberty Animal Control Officer Joann Gerow, and attempts are being made to place them.

In May of 2006, Smith’s house burned to the ground, killing many of the cats and dogs then on the property. She has since started rebuilding and collecting more animals. The Town of Cochecton has cited her for violations of its kennel laws.

Prior to this incident, Smith had been in Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla for a week. One of her kennel workers had been taking care of the animals. When Smith heard that deputies had come from her cats, she checked herself out, arriving at the scene in time to see deputies removing cats from the basement.

Smith has been issued a ticket to appear in the Town of Cochecton Court.

Spitzer vows to fight federal limits on child insurance

ALBANY, NY — Governor Eliot Spitzer will try to reverse new federal rules that will impede New York’s efforts to expand children’s health insurance.

In April, New York State filed a State Plan Amendment seeking federal approval to expand the income eligibility for its Child Health Plus program from the current maximum of 250 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), about $43,000 for a family of three, to 400 percent of the FPL, about $68,000 for the same family. The change makes an additional 60,000 uninsured children eligible. The cost of the monthly premium would increase based on a family’s income level.

The new federal rules announced August 17 would block this expansion.

Spitzer announced that the state may fight the new federal administrative rules in court on the grounds that they contradict the provisions of the federal SCHIP law and were imposed without notice or the required comment period, as required by the federal Administrative Procedures Act.

Pike County Commissioners support farm credit services

MILFORD, PA — The Pike County Commissioners voted to support efforts by national and state farmers’ groups to have broader access to financing.

“We want to support efforts by farm groups to include in the new Farm Bill of 2007 provisions to offer financial assistance to farmers, producers of agricultural products, farm-related businesses and rural homeowners by including them in the Farm Credit System,” said Pike County Commissioner Harry Forbes.

The Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of borrower-owned financial institutions and specialized service organizations, has a mission to serve the financial needs of agriculture and rural America by providing capital, expert advice and competitive financial services and products.

“Agriculture and rural America are changing markedly and, correspondingly, their needs for financial services and capital, new investment and infrastructure are changing. Agriculture and rural communities need greater, more dependable access to competitive, flexible financial services in order to be competitive in a changing global economy,” said Mark Singel, former Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey’s lieutenant governor and president of the Winter Group, a lobbying organization in Harrisburg that supports farmers and farm-related businesses.

The U.S. Senate will address the new farm bill after its recess this September. The House has already passed a version that does not include this provision.

Green building initiatives announced

ALBANY, NY — The Spitzer administration has proposed legislation that would offer New York State homeowners who build or renovate homes that meet green building criteria a monetary incentive based on the size of the home. The incentive, designed to help offset the typically higher costs of using green technologies, would be capped at $10,000.

At the same time, David D. Brown, Executive Director of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, announced that all new state construction projects and major renovations managed by the authority will meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards starting in 2008.