New home improvement protection for Pennsylvania residents

LEMOYNE, PA — Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has signed Senate Bill 100, creating a law that will require home improvement contractors to register with the state attorney general’s office. Contractors doing more than $5,000 home improvement work annually will receive a registration number that must be displayed and provided to potential customers. Consumers can use the contractor’s registration number to verify a contractor’s status with the attorney general’s office and to report any concerns.

The Pennsylvania Builders Association (PBA) played a key role in developing the law, which also institutes stiffer penalties for home improvement fraud, as urged by the PBA for years. It’s expected the new law will help legitimate home improvement businesses by discouraging contractors using fraudulent business practices from seeking work in Pennsylvania.

Under the new law, all home improvement contractors must register with the state prior to July 1, 2009.

Callicoon Center postmaster charged

with grand larceny

CALLICOON CENTER, NY — The postmaster at Callicoon Center, Nancy Matrafailo, was arrested last week on charges of felony grand larceny. A state police investigation undertaken in cooperation with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the USPS Office of the Inspector General alleges that Matrafailo stole $106,500 from an elderly man and sent the money to relatives.

According to police, Matrafailo wrote two checks on the account of the elderly man, who lives in the Callicoon Center area, after obtaining power of attorney for him. She then sent the money to members of her family via the U.S. mail, using postal service money orders.

Matrafailo was arraigned in the court of the Town of Rockland and sent to the Sullivan County jail in lieu of bail.

Economic assistance on the way

HONESDALE, PA — The Wayne County Commissioners have directed the county’s human services department to work with the Honesdale Ministerium in providing relief for those who are suffering from the economic downturn in the national economy.

The Honesdale Ministerium is a long-time established coalition of local churches that has been providing humanitarian relief for those in need from any source.

“Even as we speak, this group is working closely with the county to give whatever assistance that we can muster to help these folks,” said Brian Smith, chairman of the commissioners.

Smith mentioned the Northeast Pennsylvania Legal Services, which is housed at the courthouse and can help homeowners who face foreclosure. The service is not a county agency but works with the county in providing legal services to county residents.

Hinchey tops in conservation

KINGSTON, NY — The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), which evaluates legislators according to their attention to and support of environmental issues, gave Congressman Maurice Hinchey a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2008 National Environmental Scorecard. The non-partisan LCV Scorecard has been a nationally recognized yardstick for 30 years.

The average House score in 2008 was 56 percent, and the average Senate score was 57 percent, which is slightly higher than the 53 percent House and 52 percent Senate averages in 2007.

Last year, Hinchey helped organize and create The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) in upstate New York, which is a new industry-driven, non-profit organization that provides leadership, organization, resources and support for the establishment of a major solar energy industry cluster in New York. TSEC is now in the process of creating more than 1,000 jobs in upstate New York.

More information on the LCV 2008 Scorecard is available at lcv.org/scorecard.

No Tusten DPW vote on ballot

NARROWSBURG, NY — Tusten voters will not be deciding on whether to eliminate the elected position of highway superintendent in favor of an appointed commissioner to oversee the highways. The question was supposed to be put to a referendum to voters on November 3.

Tusten supervisor Ben Johnson had championed the measure, hoping to join the highway and water and sewer departments together into a single department of public works.

But there has been a mix-up with the paperwork, and there is no time to get the proposition on the ballot. Johnson said he is not sure where the mix-up happened, but at this point town officials consider it a moot point. He said he will now propose that the board hold a special election on the matter, perhaps early in December.

Norman Meyer, the chairman of the Tusten Democratic Committee, brought to the attention of The River Reporter. Meyer has sparred with Johnson, a Republican, over the proposed changes to town personnel and services.

Man charged with menacing, poaching

CALLICOON CENTER, NY — John Mootz, 60, of Callicoon Center, has been charged with menacing and poaching following a visit to his home last week by probation officers.

Deputies found a rifle, which Mootz is prohibited from owning due to the fact that he is on probation for felony DWI. His girlfriend told them that he had threatened her with the loaded weapon. Also on the visit, one of the officers overheard Mootz on a cell phone call asking someone to remove a bag from his freezer. After obtaining a search warrant, officers found the frozen carcasses of a black bear cub and a red fox.

Mootz has been arraigned and sent to Sullivan County Jail. Bail is set at $25,000.