Mayor charged with trademark counterfeiting

MONTICELLO, NY — Gordon Jenkins, the mayor of Monticello, has been arrested by the New York State Police at Liberty and charged with trademark counterfeiting, a felony, along with Rochelle Massey.

Police say they found counterfeit merchandise at Jenkins’ store, the G-Men Beauty Supplies Store on Broadway in Monticello. Jenkins’ residence was also searched. Along with the counterfeit merchandise, weapons and a quantity of marijuana were recovered.

Jenkins and Massey were taken into custody at the business and transported to the state barracks in Liberty, where they were charged with one count of trademark counterfeiting in the second degree, two counts of trademark counterfeiting in the third degree, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and unlawful possession of marijuana. They were arraigned before Town of Thompson Justice Perry Meltzer and released on $2,500 cash bail.

Wayne landowners to hire soil consultant

DAMASCUS, PA — The executive director of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance (NWPOA) told Damascus supervisors that the gas drilling permitting will start in the spring for exploratory wells in Damascus, and that the alliance will hire a consultant to ensure that no problems with erosion arise.

Marion Schweighofer said at the township meeting on February 15, “A person will be hired by us to be an erosion and sediment control person who will be onsite and will stop any problems in soil removal from the beginning.” She called the consultant a “dirt man,” and said the person would have authority to go on all the drilling sites to inspect the process of constructing drilling pads and also roads to the drilling locations.

The permitting process for exploratory wells in Damascus Township will begin in the spring.

Cultural programming grants awarded

NARROWSBURG, NY — Nineteen Sullivan County non-profit organizations received $20,000 in Decentralization Grants (DEC) for 2010 cultural programming at a special awards ceremony held on Saturday, February 6 at the Delaware Arts Center. The recipients were the Callicoon Center Band, the Callicoon Creek Park Association, Cornell Cooperative of Sullivan County, Delaware Valley Chamber Orchestra, Delaware Youth Center, Ethelbert B. Crawford Library, Forestburgh Theatre Arts Center, Friends of Sunshine Hall Free Library, Icehouse Arts, Liberty Free Theatre, Livingston Manor Free Library, Sullivan County Community Chorus, Sullivan County Historical Society, Sullivan Performing Arts, the Town of Fallsburg, the Town of Lumberland, the Triad Dance Ensemble, the Tusten Historical Society and the Western Sullivan Public Library.

The Delaware Valley Arts Alliance seeks candidates to serve on future grant review panels. Duties consist of reading applications and participating in two meetings. For more information call 845/252-7576.

Farm Bureau weighs in on septic rules

HONESDALE, PA — The Wayne-Pike County Farm Bureau has written a letter to the Pennsylvania legislature opposing an initiative by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) pertaining to on-lot sewage systems that imposes much stricter regulation of such systems in areas where water is considered of exceptional value.

The letter argues that the slowdown in construction activity that the new regulations have created takes away an important backstop for farmers currently going through particularly hard times. “During times of dire economic need, a farmer may need to sell logs or a building lot to supplement the farm income in order to secure needed capital to maintain the economic vitality for the remainder of the family farm.” The letter says that with timber sales not viable in the current economy, the latest DEP restrictions take away the farmers’ last-ditch options.

The letter also cites the negative impact of the initiative on small rural townships that lack the manpower and funding to enforce the stricter sewage rules.

Single payer gets a boost at PA Dems winter meeting

LANCASTER, PA — Pennsylvania House bills HB 1660 and Senate bill SB 400, state single-payer healthcare bills, were unanimously endorsed by the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee at its winter meeting weekend before last.

Of the five announced Democratic candidates for governor, two—Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato—said “yes” when asked if they would sign a single-payer bill, and three— Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, state auditor Jack Wagner and state senator Anthony Williams indicated support but did not specifically say they would sign.

The bills have also been endorsed by the city councils of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Reading, West Reading, Wilkes-Barre and Allegheny.

TDS to be discussed at DRBC meeting

WEST TRENTON, NJ — There will be a presentation on Pennsylvania’s Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) strategy at a conference preceding the regular meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) on Wednesday, March 3. The session and business meeting both are open to the public and will be held at the Commission’s office building, located at 25 State Police Drive. A rulemaking has recently been proposed to impose stricter standards on TDS, which can have toxic effects on the environment.

The conference will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will consist of a presentation by representatives of the Schuylkill Action Network and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the U.S. EPA Targeted Watershed Initiative Grant Final Report, as well as the presentation on TDS by the DRBC’s Pennsylvania commissioner.