NtM- March 30.2009

	Login |  Register
News That Matters Brought to you (Almost Daily) by PlanPutnam.Org
Contact Us  |  Shop Putnam  |  Putnam Outdoors  |  RSS Feed  |  Visit the Blog  |  Visit our Sponsor  |  Donate  |  Blogsite   |  Events
"Yet in parts of the region, the decline is being met by an unlikely optimism. Some people who have long fought to clear-cut the region’s verdant slopes are trying to reposition themselves for a more environmentally friendly economy, motivated by changing political interests, the federal stimulus package and sheer desperation." Good Monday Morning, For those of you not locked away in a sub-basement last evening, a line of thunderstorms came through the county hitting Philipstown about 8PM and passing Patterson about an hour later. The peas, lettuce and radishes in the garden enjoyed the drink. It really is spring! Last week Carmel police nabbed a dangerous man on the bike path in Mahopac. No, he wasn't a child molester or an Icelandic terrorist recently escaped from Guantanamo Bay. He wasn't affiliated with AIG Insurance nor was he a member of Congress. No, he was just pissing on the side of the trail and charged with public lewdness and having an open container. So, what was it that brought the weight of authority down on this man? Did neighbors go screaming to the police? Did he shake more than twice? No, he was the wrong guy. See, Carmel police were looking for someone that looked like him but upon finding he wasn't who they were looking for decided, rather than to say, "Jeez man, we're sorry," and go on about their business, they nabbed him. But let's think about the cost of nabbing that guy from the time police spent writing a ticket to the time the courts will spend on his case to the time this guy has to take off from work to answer the charges and the lost productivity of his employer. It's probably many hundreds of dollars. And if we ran our governments like we do well-managed corporations we'd know exactly what it costs, right down to the electricity used for his 15 minutes in court. Is it worth it? We have many laws on the books that perhaps we might want to revisit or, at the very least, reassess how thye are enforced. If the guy wasn't hurting anyone or destroying property, where's the 'crime'? The ancient Hebrews used to throw out all their laws every seven years and keep only the ones which were regularly enforced and germane for the time. It's not a bad lesson to consider. News Shorts: Kevin McConville, 52 of Cold Spring, former MTA police chief, has entered the race for Putnam County Sheriff which brings the field to, oh, 40 or so... or at least it seems that way. Scientists have discovered what anyone with half-a-brain already knows; when you drop that lobster into a pot of boiling water it feels pain. A significant minority of psychiatrists and therapists are still attempting to help lesbian, gay and bisexual clients become heterosexual despite lack of evidence that such treatment is beneficial or even safe. For all of you who participated in "Earth Hour" last Saturday evening, you did so without the 1.3 billion people who live in China. Last Friday, the Chinese government officially pulled the plug on the celebration. Students at Beijing University were explicitly warned not to "overtly participate" in the global event. While right-wingers are praying that the nation collapses so that they can elect one of their own from the ruins in 2012, left-wingers have taken to calling the president Barack Obush. If everyone on the extremes dislikes the man, he must be doing something right. The FAA is withholding information concerning the number of bird strikes airplanes encounter each year. They say they're afraid the public will get an "inaccurate perception" of airplane safety.  My, they really do think we're pretty stupid. Email the FAA the following message: Dear Airplane people, Thank you for keeping this information qu iet. The American people do not need too know how saif airplanes are and I think you should keep up the good werk. I feel beter now. My son wants to be a pilet one day if he do not become a NASCAR driver. The most active and commented on story at the blogsite is the one about the Town of Kent's attempt to increase its supervisor's term from two years to four. But there's more there! Here's what's been posted to the blogsite lately: Cell phone scandal Putnam Valley Planning Board - 3/23/09  NtM - March 27, 2009 - Things To Do Edition  Tests of Putnam landfill come back clean | lohud.com | The Journal News  Metro-North fares to rise as MTA Board approves system-wide hikes  West Point to outsource 300 jobs  NtM - March 25, 2009  Not getting it in Carmel | lohud.com | The Journal News  Lake Peekskill  Kent TB Agenda - 3/23/09  Fire Weather Alert - March 23, 2009  NtM - March 23, 2009  Town of Kent Supervisor Term (9 comments) Village incumbents’ losses could signal trend | lohud.com | The Journal News  And now, the News: Don't use subdivision as a traffic shortcut Conservation easements preserve open space Get it fresh from the farm EPA Helps Put America Back to Work Protecting Human Health and Cleaning Up the Environment Building Good Roads Loggers Try to Adapt to Greener Economy Advisory Against Visiting Caves Social Business: Health Savings Microphilanthropy Detachable RV Concept Shows Off Injection-Molded Future Don't use subdivision as a traffic shortcut A NYJN Letter to the Editor: For the past 41 years, I have lived in Carmel. My neighbors and I strongly object to opening Kelly Road to Enoch Crosby Road as Councilman Richard Honeck suggested per The Journal News on March 7 ("Southeast spars over paving of dirt road"). Doing so would create a new primary access to the new subdivision on Enoch Crosby. Read More Conservation easements preserve open space A legal strategy to protect privately-owned land in Virginia is growing in popularity nationwide. By PlentyMag.com Every spring since 2004, Esther and Pablo Elliott have tended the soil of their 91-acre organic farm, and every summer and fall they’ve been rewarded with broccoli, tomatoes, okra, chard and more. Just an hour’s drive from Washington, D.C., Stoney Lonesome Farm is the Elliotts’ passion and provides much of their livelihood. So in 2004, they were horrified to learn that the Commonwealth of Virginia was planning to slice a new highway exchange and electrical corridor through their treasured farmland.   The rumbling of nearby development started the family thinking about protecting their land for the long-term (although those particular projects have since been shelved or rerouted amid shrinking local budgets and public outcry). The Elliotts began discussions with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving open space in the state, about the possibility of getting a conservation easement — a legal tool that limits future uses of a property and is administered by a land trust. At least 37 million acres of privately-owned woods, meadows, rivers, mountains, farms, and wildlife habitats nationwide have been protected using this method. That’s an area more than 16 times the size of Yosemite National Park, and the protected space has doubled in size in the last five years. The properties are monitored annually to make sure that the owners didn’t suddenly have a change of heart and try to sneak in a golf course or other forbidden development. Read More Get it fresh from the farm Community-supported agriculture provides supply of seasonal produce By Theresa Keegan For the Poughkeepsie Journal For many local farmers, spring activities now include more than choosing seeds and preparing soil - they are harvesting a crop of members. Community-supported agriculture, where members from the community pay a set fee in advance and then receive weekly produce during harvest season, is an increasingly popular way for farmers to stabilize income and consumers to secure a steady supply of farm-fresh produce. "CSAs provide very fresh food," said Oleh Maczaj, who, along with his wife Nadia Maczaj, owns Rusty Plough Farm in Ellenville. They joined with two other neighboring farmers to create Rondout Valley Organics, a CSA in Southern Ulster County. Read More EPA Helps Put America Back to Work Protecting Human Health and Cleaning Up the Environment Release date: 03/27/2009 Contact Information: (Media Only) Elias Rodriguez (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov (New York, N.Y.) In a move that will boost the economy, create new jobs, build the foundation for long-term economic strength, and protect human health and the environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a national competition for $156 million in funding to jumpstart clean diesel projects through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The projects will create jobs and reduce harmful diesel pollution. Nearly $18.5 million of this funding is slated for projects in EPA Region 2, which covers New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven federally recognized Indian Nations. EPA is encouraging organizations and government entities to apply for the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. Applications are due by April 28, 2009. "This Recovery Act funding for projects to control diesel pollution will go a long way toward creating jobs, while significantly reducing pollution,” said George Pavlou, Acting Regional Administrator. “This is proof positive that a strong economic and environmental future not only can, but does go hand-in-hand.” Read More Building Good Roads One problem in our transportation policy is that funding is unduly weighted to spending money on roads rather than spending money on mass transit. Another problem in our transportation policy is that funding is unduly weighted to building new roads rather than to doing the necessary work to maintain the roads we already have in excellent condition. But yet another problem is that there are roads and then there are roads. There are freeways, and there are boulevards. There are connected networks of streets that can be walked or biked as well as driven, and there impenetrable mazes of cul-de-sacs. See the contrast below: And there are little things like lane-widths. Wider lanes make driving feel safer, which leads to faster driving and an environment that’s unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists and typically actually less safe for drivers. There are roads with sidewalks and there are roads without sidewalks. And obviously you’re always going to have more roads and streets than metro lines in any given city, so getting this stuff right is important. Read More Loggers Try to Adapt to Greener Economy By WILLIAM YARDLEY LOWELL, Ore. — Booming timber towns with three-shift lumber mills are a distant memory in the densely forested Northwest. Now, with the housing market and the economy in crisis, some rural areas have never been more raw. Mills keep closing. People keep leaving. Unemployment in some counties is near 20 percent. Yet in parts of the region, the decline is being met by an unlikely optimism. Some people who have long fought to clear-cut the region’s verdant slopes are trying to reposition themselves for a more environmentally friendly economy, motivated by changing political interests, the federal stimulus package and sheer desperation. Some mills that once sought the oldest, tallest evergreens are now producing alternative energy from wood byproducts like bark or brush. Unemployed loggers are looking for work thinning federal forests, a task for which the stimulus package devotes $500 million; the goal is to make forests more resistant to wildfires and disease. Some local officials are betting there is revenue in a forest resource that few appreciated before: the ability of trees to absorb carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that can contribute to global warming. Pragmatism drives the shifting thinking, but a critical question remains: can people really make a long-term living off the forest without cutting it down? Read More Advisory Against Visiting Caves By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Federal officials are asking people to stay out of caves in states from West Virginia to New England, where as many as 500,000 bats have died from a disease called white-nose syndrome. The Fish and Wildlife Service made the request to guard against the possibility that people are unwittingly spreading the mysterious affliction when they explore multiple caves. There is no evidence that the disease is a threat to people. White-nose syndrome is named for the sugary smudges of fungus on the noses and wings of hibernating bats. White-nose bats appear to run through their stores of winter fat before spring. Read More Social Business: Health Savings Microphilanthropy Posted by: waynejsmith on March 25, 2009 at 11:54 am I have an idea to get between 20,000 to 200,000 people baseline funding ($1000) for their healthcare by using a default giving option in health savings accounts. Basically, this is a social business model. The idea allows people to give small amounts of their pretax paycheck each week to pay for others’ health care without anyincurred risk and by bypassing government channels. It is privatized health care philanthropy administered on an individual payout basis. 0.1% (or some other small amount) will be the default giving level. Members of the HSA will be signed up automatically and informed that they may choose to opt-out or increase their giving. The objective is to set the default option low enough that people will not be motivated to opt-out. There is also the opportunity to allow individuals to donate the balance of their HSA to the program at the end of the year (potential default option), and to the program as the beneficiary upon an individual’s death (another potential default). The idea may also be able to leverage the Cass & Sunstein idea of Give More Tomorrow, since the contributions will be withdrawn from pretax individuals’ pay. Read More Detachable RV Concept Shows Off Injection-Molded Future By Ben Wojdyla, 10:00 AM on Fri Feb 6 2009, 5,523 views German design student Christian Susana is shopping around his concept for a dockable and detachable RV concept which makes the family Winnebago look like a leftover from the stone age. Certainly, this is not the first time the idea of combining towing vehicle with trailer has come around, but this one does offer some pretty snazzy design. Old Susana's concept is dubbed the Colim (Colors of Life in Motion) and its central trick is obviously the little car up front, which does the towing and can pull away for scooting around your destination. The back half is a cleanly designed, modern interpretation of RV living; it sleeps four, has a kitchenette, and a bathroom, along with fancy storage and seating. By having a detachable car instead of towing one behind, the concept would be considerably more fuel efficient and take up less space at the campsite. At the end of the day though, it's just really neat looking. We're wondering if there are provisions to load up some filthy dirt bikes and tow a blown up CJ-5. [Tuvie, LikeCool]	Sign up to have News That Matters Delivered to your email inbox! Email:
Copyright © 2009 News That Matters

NtM - March 27, 2009 - Things To Do Edition

	Login |  Register
News That Matters Brought to you (Almost Daily) by PlanPutnam.Org
Contact Us  |  Shop Putnam  |  Putnam Outdoors  |  RSS Feed  |  Visit the Blog  |  Visit our Sponsor  |  Donate  |  Blogsite   |  Events
Good Friday Morning, Here's the weather for this weekend: Today Mar 27 Partly Cloudy 62°/37° 20 % Sat Mar 28 Mostly Cloudy 56°/43° 20 % Sun Mar 29 Rain / Thunder 56°/35° 80 % As you can see, Today and tomorrow may be glorious days and if I hear that you spent it in the house I'm going to bring down a ton of Jewish guilt on you... and that's a promise. I'm dialing my mother right now... So, what to do? Garden! Turn the soil this weekend and lay in some of that compost you've been making since last winter and if you're adventurous, you can get some peas and radishes in and start eating from that plot in as little as 28 days. Once you're done in the garden, take a hike right here in one of Putnam's newest and still rather undiscovered state parks: Wonder Lake State Park Hike distance about 5 miles as marked on the map. Note: This park is a work in progress and the description below was accurate of of May 14, 2007. If you notice changes at the park or have additional information that fits into this report please let me know. JmG I remember the first time I visited Wonder Lake State Park. The land hadn't been transferred to the state yet and as I hiked on the main road through the park, always afraid of being caught, I ran into two women. Almost at the same moment we each said to each other, "Am I/we in trouble?" I believed they were members of the Montgomery and Cushman clan and they considered I was the caretaker for the property. Access to the park in those early days was a problem. Originally you went up a right-of-way from Luddingtonville Road just above the Park and Ride that of relatively recent vintage has been turned into a driveway with a house on it making it uncertain to the casual eye if this was a legal access. But after years of questions and agitation from those who wanted easier access to the park the State has created a parking area just south of the Senior Home on Luddingtonville road in Kent. This is where our hike starts. Click here for more. There's more going on and I hope you enjoy it. Wonder Lake State Park Tonight: Play On! A Comedy by Rick Abbot Saturday: Voices of the Uninsured Alternative Energy & Financing Forum in Cornwall Philipstown Film Fest Earth Hour 2009 (Special Event!) Clearwater Spring Splash Dave Bonan's 8th Annual Car-Free Bicycle Anniversary Sunday: Introduction to Survival Skills Philipstown Film Fest (Part two) Kevin Callaghan Jazz Quartet Into the Future: Saturday, April 4 The Michelle LeBlanc Quintet Magnetizing Downtowns and Historic Villages Sunday April, 5 "Wild Man" Steve Brill October 2nd, 2009 Opening Ceremonies for Walkway Over the Hudson Tonight: Play On! A Comedy by Rick Abbot 8 p.m. at the Melrose School, Federal Road, Brewster, NY. Also, March 27 and April 3-4. This is the hilarious story of a theater group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty authoress who keeps revising the script. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance in which anything that can go wrong does. When the authoress decides to give a speech on the state of the modern theatre during the curtain calls, the audience is treated to a madcap climax to a thoroughly hilarious romp. Saturday: Voices of the Uninsured 10 am-1 pm.  A community forum to advocate for health care for all.  Sponsored by a coalition of health care providers and the Social Justice Committee of the UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie.  At the UU Fellowship, 67 South Randolph Ave., Poughkeepsie.  845-229-5147 or 845-373-7510; rhinebeckuu1@yahoo.com ; www.uupok.org. Alternative Energy & Financing Forum in Cornwall 1pm at Hudson Highland's Nature Museum's Outdoor Discovery Center (100 Muser Dr., across from 174 Angola Rd., Cornwall, NY) Co-presented by the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum and Black Rock Forest Consortium Learn more about geothermal, solar PV, and solar thermal energy, and how financing incentives, offered by NYSERDA and other agencies, can make installing an alternative energy system in your home or business more affordable. Sponsored by the Hudson Highlands Land Trust. Featured presenters will include:     * Pat Courtney, Mid-Hudson Energy Smart Communities (NYSERDA)     * Craig Roffman, Altren Consulting     * Carl Floor, Solar Energy Management, Inc.     * Chris DiBernardo, 2K Solar Contracting For more information, contact us: 845-424-3358 or info@hhlt.org.  Hope you can join us! Philipstown Film Fest At the Depot Theater in Garrison. $10.00 Schedule: 1:30 - 3:30 Emily Breer, Superhero -- 10 min. The Tutor -- 32 min. Jannika Peerna, Drawing Revealed -- 30 min. Art out of Longing and Song -- 15 min 4:00 — 6:00 Adam Matalon, Seasons in the Valley -- 80 minutes 7:00-8:30 David Rothenberg, Why Birds Sing -- 80 minutes 9:00 Opening night party Earth Hour 2009 Global: Take part in the World Wildlife Federation's "Earth Hour 2009 by turning out your lights for one hour, 8:30-9:30 pm. This global lights-out effort is intended to bring together millions of people from around the world to show support for action on climate change. This symbolic event will demonstrate to governments around the world that we want action on climate change now. Click here for more information Clearwater Spring Splash 8PM - Concert with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco at Beacon High School, 101 Matteawan Road, Beacon.  Doors Open at 6:30 p.m., Special guests are also slated to perform at the event. www.clearwater.org   Nearly sold out. Dave Bonan's 8th Annual Car-Free Bicycle Anniversary 10 PM - Cousin Larry's Cafe 1 Elm Street, Danbury $7 cover (includes raffle ticket) or $1 off with canned good.  21+ only, Drink Specials. Bands: Fighting Cocks, feat. Philo Cramer, formerly of FEAR, Kimono Draggin (New Haven), 76% Uncertain (CT's veteran hardcore since 1983) Info: 203-730-0035 or 203-770-8304. The raffle will include all the goodies like last year, supported by local businesses and will again include 2 10-trip local bus passes and 1 free roundtrip on MetroNorth and the atmosphere will have bike posters, bike hanging bike angels and many cutouts of Andy Singer CARtoons. Sunday: Introduction to Survival Skills 9AM - 5PM - One-day indoor/outdoor seminar with John D. McCann of Survival Resources. Learn how to build fires and shelter, purify water, signal, navigate, and other skills. Ages 16+. Call 845-255-0919 to register (required) and for meeting location. $60 Mohonk Preserve members, $75 non-members Philipstown Film Fest (Part two) At the Depot Theater in Garrison. $10.00 Schedule: 1:30-3:30 Stephen Ives, Cornerstone -- 90 min 4:00- 5:30 Michelle Clifton, Jail Talk Hudson River Film and Video -- 60 minutes 6:00 -8:00 Andrea Sadler, The Sacred Run -- 2 hours with post show circle ceremony Kevin Callaghan Jazz Quartet 3 PM -  Tom Kohl on Piano, Ed Xiques on Saxophone, Kevin Callaghan on Bass and Juhn Arrucci on percussion. At the Long Ridge United Methodist Church, 210 Long Ridge Road, Danbury, CT 06810. The Western Connecticut State University Faculty Brass Quintet will also perform. This event is free! Directions: I 84 to exit 3 in CT.  Follow route 7 south toward Norwalk.  At the first light make a left onto Starrs Plain Road W.  Follow past entrance to Lake Waubeeka and just after sharp bend in the road to the right make a left onto West Redding Road.  Continue until the four way stop and make a left onto Long Ridge Road.  The church is on the left. Into the Future: Saturday, April 4 The Michelle LeBlanc Quintet 3 PM at the White Plains Library Featuring pianist Tom Kohl, drummer Ron Vincent, Bill Crow on bass and Ed Xiques on sax. White Plains Library, 100 Martine Ave White Plains NY 10601 914 422 1400  www.whiteplainslibrary.org Magnetizing Downtowns and Historic Villages 9AM - 5:30 PM This promises to be a very exciting event with participants from all over the Hudson Valley and speakers including the cutting edge David Milder of Danth Inc., Phil and Meg from Project for Public Spaces, Erin Tobin from the Preservation League and Joe Rabito from the Office of Community Renewal as well as representatives from State Agencies, a video connection to a speaker in the Netherlands and local activists from Kingston. Registration is $40 and includes coffee breaks and lunch. Call (845) 677-3002. Sustainable Hudson Valley Sunday April, 5 "Wild Man" Steve Brill 10:00 am, "Wild Man" Steve Brill, Americas's best known foraging expert, will be paying us a visit here at Native Landscapes and Garden Center( 991 Rt. 22 Pawling, NY). During his hands on program we will learn about the environment and how to get back in touch with nature. To quote Steve, " by studying nature and foraging, we enjoy our renewable resources, and reaffirm our commitment to preserving and protecting our renewable ecological riches."  "Wild Man" will give a brief talk here at the garden center and then we will all venture onto the Appalachian Trail to start dining. "Wild Man" Steve Brill is well known in his field and has been featured on many radio and television shows, and in numerous publications. You can also visit the "Wild Man' on his web site at www.wildmanstevebrill.com. While you're here at the garden center please browse through all our native plants. Don't to forget to ask about our "American Beauties"  native plant program. We look forward to seeing all of you. October 2nd, 2009 Opening Ceremonies for Walkway Over the Hudson NY's newest state park. Take an historic walk across the newly renovated Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge. At around 7:00 p.m. Invited guests and volunteers will gather at the East and West sides of the bridge to take part in the Grand Illumination of the Walkway, bringing it out of the shadows and into the night light of the Hudson River at its mid-point! We need 1,000 folks to play an active role in the Illumination of the Bridge and the Hot-Air Lantern release that will follow it. Folks can bring their friends and families to help them with their Lantern - so it will be a joyous and wondrous occasion for all involved. And, after the Lantern Release you and your group will have the privilege of viewing the Grand Fireworks show from eye level with the display! And, you will be one of the first to step on the bridge! And THE first to go on the bridge at night!   Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. we need ANOTHER 1,000 folks to take part in the Official Opening Ceremony. Officiated by Governor David A Patterson and his wife Michelle, the Honorary Chair of the Hudson Fulton Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration and other local State and National dignitaries, YOU will also have a role! The plan is to TIE A KNOT with two nautical ropes coming from the East and West sides of the bridge. We need folks to hold and extend this MILE LONG rope across the bridge. There will be gala bands, lots of ceremony, kites, wind socks, and a Grand Parade that will flow in BOTH directions across the bridge - and YOU will be right in the middle of it! From your high perch you will see rowing races, the Parade, a jet-ski ballet, a fly-over by the Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome and more! Kids can be a part of this too - so you can bring the whole family.	Sign up to have News That Matters Delivered to your email inbox! Email:
Copyright © 2009 News That Matters

NtM - March 25, 2009

	Login |  Register
News That Matters Brought to you (Almost Daily) by PlanPutnam.Org
Contact Us  |  Shop Putnam  |  Putnam Outdoors  |  RSS Feed  |  Visit the Blog  |  Visit our Sponsor  |  Donate  |  Blogsite   |  Events
"In the final three months of last year, the company [AIG] lost more than $27 million every hour. That's $465,000 a minute, a yearly income for a median American household every six seconds, roughly $7,750 a second." Matt Taibbi Good Wednesday Morning, I almost sent this column out yesterday. I've been publishing this thing daily for more than 5 years and the change in habit has left me dazed and confused. On the other hand, it also left me with three hours to work on the things that earn me a living! Keep in mind that the next issue comes out on Friday so if you or your organization has an event planned for this weekend or early next week, please get it in here as quickly as possible. On Monday evening the Kent Town Board met in a public hearing to discuss the implications of electing their town Supervisor to a four-year term rather than the current two years. About 30 people showed up (I would have thought the issue would have brought out more) but every political junkie in town was there to either witness the event or pass judgment. There are good points and bad points on both sides of the argument and though I might offer a compromise it would require a re-thinking of local political elections. Too many people have apparently already made up their minds and it seems they may have done so based on politics rather than on good governance. If you live in Kent and would like to let your opinion be known, the public hearing started on Monday will be held open until August 17th when a second public hearing will be held. Until then, point your browsers to the related article on the News That Matters blogsite and let us know how you feel about it. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! I found out recently that at near 26 years old, Richard had never seen Mary Poppins so last night was the night. You remember Mary Poppins, the safe psilocybin trip produced for the world by Walt Disney in 1964? Well, see it with adult eyes... anti-capitalism, women's rights, rebellion and ultimate redemption through force of personal will are all crammed into 2 hours and change of overly excitable music from Julie Andrews' remarkable voice and high-kickin' dancing featuring Dick Van Dyke's seemingly disjointed arms and legs. Tonight it's back to the series of Andy Warhol produced films starring Joe Delassandro.  Now, that's something entirely different. Short Notes: Eliot Engel has introduced a bill that would require 80% of vehicles sold in the US to be "flex-fueled" by 2015. If you're concerned about using toxins on your pets (and you should be), point your browser to GreenPaws. A new business opportunity: Someone with smarts needs to set up a canning operation for everyone who is growing a home garden this year. Tons of tomatoes, cukes, and whathaveyou end up in the compost or given away to others already deluged by the bounty. I'm interested if someone with the know-how is. You need your house painted this spring. You do. Honest. Rush Limbaugh said on the radio that it's fair game for Republicans to want Lenin, er, Obama - and thus the nation - to fail. Their opposition will, he says, stop the socialist state Obama is creating where personal freedoms are being taken away at a rapid pace and being replaced by draconian 'anti-American' rules. Has WABC considered that this guy needs some serious counseling? A teacher in Putnam Valley has resigned, admitting that he lied about earning his Masters degree. The problem is that he was, by all accounts, a really good teacher. It makes you wonder whether our need for advanced degrees (or in any job for that matter) is based on a false premise that degreed educators are better than those without them. Maybe it's time to reassess that position and stop barring those who might be good teachers from our classrooms. James Brewer thought he was dying from a stroke so he confessed to a murder he committed 32 years ago. Much to his surprise he got better. Now he's been arrested and charged for it. Here's a list of 50 ways to reach helpful customer service - when you need it most. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindel recently raised concerns over $140 million Congress was allocating towards volcano research and warning systems. He went so far as to say this represented "an eruption" in spending. The other day, Alaska's Redoubt volcano erupted - and we knew before-hand it was going to. Maybe he ought to focus on building dikes around New Orleans? Wait! Wait! No! Pakistan has 173 million people, an army larger than that of the United States, 100 nuclear weapons, Al Queda's headquarters smack in the middle of a no-man's land, a rogue army that acts as a state within a state and the nation is about to collapse financially. And you think we have problems? The economy has gone sour and the working classes are the hardest hit. Congress is freely handing out money to the guys who caused the mess, money your great grandchildren will still be paying back. Would someone please write to Congressman Hall and say, "Hey, how about a trillion bucks for us"? And now, The News: Trails pay off, speakers say Youth's water purifier on way to global fair Discover the Landscape that Defined American New Data Track Evolution of a Landscape Journalist claims restraining order bars her reporting India launches 'world's cheapest car' The Big Takeover Trails pay off, speakers say By Craig Wolf Poughkeepsie Journal Because trails pay off in economic and fiscal impact, the mid-Hudson at large can expect a substantial gain from opening the Walkway Over the Hudson, experts said this morning. Walkway, which is making a pedestrian trail of the old Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, and Dutchess County Tourism sponsored a conference in Poughkeepsie attended by several dozen people from tourism-related entities. Read More Youth's water purifier on way to global fair Marcela Rojas The Journal News Alex Ruyack said he one day hopes to bring clean, inexpensive water to Third World countries. The Brewster High School senior may well be on his way. Since the start of the school year, Ruyack has been working on a science project in his Foundations of Research class, creating carbon nanotubes, tiny structures that can be used to purify water. The nanotubes, he said, could be installed into a filtration system that would also desalinate the water. "It's so small that the actual individual carbon atoms are forming the tube," said Ruyack, 18, adding that the nanotubes would filter out salt, heavy metals, arsenic and other toxins. Read More Discover the Landscape that Defined American March 20, 2009 at 3:34PM by Ned Sullivan A visit to the Hudson Valley is wonderful at any time, but a trip this year promises to be even more exciting than usual. In addition to the region's vaunted tourism mainstays -- stunning parks, outstanding museums and historic sites, and, of course, the breathtaking Hudson River itself -- there will be dozens of special events, exhibits and performances commemorating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage of discovery on the river that bears his name. Already underway and running throughout 2009, the festivities are wide-ranging and far-reaching, stretching from Manhattan to the Hudson's source in the Adirondack Mountains. Many celebrate the valley's Dutch culture and heritage. (Hudson's voyage was financed by the Dutch, who soon sent colonists to settle on the river's fertile shores.) Some focus on the region's first inhabitants, Native Americans, and the 19th-century paintings inspired by the valley's landscapes, which gave birth to America's first art movement -- the Hudson River School. There are festivals devoted to all things edible, from oysters and crabs to ginseng, which grows wild in Hudson Valley forests. Communities are hosting displays of historic cars and boats, re-enactments of pivotal Revolutionary War battles, a circus extravaganza and plenty of concerts, parades and fireworks. The Quadricentennial Web site features a complete calendar of activities. Hats off to Tara Sullivan, Executive Director of the NYS Quadricentennial, and incidentally my spouse, and to Joan Davidson, Chair of the Quadricentennial Commission. Read More New Data Track Evolution of a Landscape By Jan Ellen Spiegel - For the New York Times THE marriage of satellite imagery and digital mapping has produced a 21st-century bird’s-eye view of how Connecticut’s landscape has changed over the last two decades. The newly updated study, by the University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research here, shows not only steady growth of development and loss of forest and agricultural land, but also exactly how, where and why. Using multicolored, town-by-town, web-based interactive mapping, this land cover project is believed to be the most sophisticated of any state in the country. Many state officials, special interest groups and planners are finding the information, which is free, invaluable, and a number are using it as ammunition for their causes. Yet many communities are unaware that it exists (the Web address for the information is http://clear.uconn.edu/projects/landscape/statewide.htm). “Fascinating website,” e-mailed Herman Schuler, economic development director in Oxford, which posted the largest percentage increase in development from 1985 to 2006, the years covered by the data. While Mr. Schuler said he wasn’t surprised his town topped the list with a 62 percent increase (Manchester posted the most acres developed at 1,731), he said he was unaware the land cover mapping existed. Read More Journalist claims restraining order bars her reporting A photojournalist working in West Virginia claims a restraining order issued at the request of a mining company there is infringing on her right to report on a brewing local controversy. Antrim Caskey, a photographer based in New York, and several environmental activists were hit with the restraining order last month after trespassing on property owned by Massey Energy Co. Caskey told the Reporters Committee she had been reporting on the controversial mountain removal activity there since 2005 and started covering Climate Ground Zero, a group that includes some of the cited activists, in 2008. According to the complaint that led to the restraining order, Caskey was photographing protesters James McGuiness and Michael Roselle in February as they formed a human roadblock on Massey property. Security officials informed the three that they were trespassing on private grounds, but they refused to leave, leading state police to issue misdemeanor trespassing citations, the complaint said. Massey says this is the third such trespassing incident for the trio in less than a month. Read More India launches 'world's cheapest car' £1,350 Tata Nano gears up to revolutionise travel for millions Randeep Ramesh in Mumbai guardian.co.uk India's Tata group has announced that the world's cheapest car, the Nano, will roll out of West Bengal state with a price tag of just 100,000 rupees ‑ £1,350 ‑ and will be exported to richer nations, beginning with Europe, in two years. Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, said the car was originally designed to bring motoring to India's masses, but he was taken aback by the considerable interest in the west. He said: "Initially we did not plan for this product to be marketed anywhere else but India or developing countries … I felt that the niche did not exist in the west. But now the present economic scene makes it somewhat more relevant in price." Read More The Big Takeover The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution Matt Taibbi - Rolling Stone "...this was a casino unique among all casinos, one where middle-class taxpayers cover the bets of billionaires." It's over — we're officially, royally f*cked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he was once again going to have to stuff billions of taxpayer dollars into a dying insurance giant called AIG, itself a profound symbol of our national decline — a corporation that got rich insuring the concrete and steel of American industry in the country's heyday, only to destroy itself chasing phantom fortunes at the Wall Street card tables, like a dissolute nobleman gambling away the family estate in the waning days of the British Empire. The latest bailout came as AIG admitted to having just posted the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history — some $61.7 billion. In the final three months of last year, the company lost more than $27 million every hour. That's $465,000 a minute, a yearly income for a median American household every six seconds, roughly $7,750 a second. And all this happened at the end of eight straight years that America devoted to frantically chasing the shadow of a terrorist threat to no avail, eight years spent stopping every citizen at every airport to search every purse, bag, crotch and briefcase for juice boxes and explosive tubes of toothpaste. Yet in the end, our government had no mechanism for searching the balance sheets of companies that held life-or-death power over our society and was unable to spot holes in the national economy the size of Libya (whose entire GDP last year was smaller than AIG's 2008 losses). Read More	Sign up to have News That Matters Delivered to your email inbox! Email:
Copyright © 2009 News That Matters

NtM - Monday, March 23, 2009

	Login • Register
News That Matters Brought to you (Almost Daily) by PlanPutnam.Org
Contact Us • Shop Putnam • Putnam Outdoors • RSS Feed • Visit the Blog • Visit our Sponsor
"We feel it is premature to consider a wage freeze..." - County Executive Bob Bondi Good Monday Morning, This evening at 7 PM the Town of Kent will hold a public hearing on whether or not the term for its elected Supervisor should be four years instead of two. Patterson and Southeast have four-year terms while other towns in Putnam County still have two-year Supervisors. Depending on the outcome of the public hearing a referendum may be held this November to decide the issue. Personally, I have no opinion one side or the other but I'm curious what you, my readers, have to say about this. Head on over to the Blogsite and let us know. Here's a Monday morning question for you: What ever happened to the police investigation into the goat found in the street in front of [The Assemblyman Who Shall Not Be Named's] house? Does anyone know? While we're talking about TAWSNBN, he's opened a full frontal assault on Congressman John Hall who is best known for his successful and important work on veteran's affairs. From virtually every corner, blogs, websites, and news reports from the extremist right to the radical left are lobbing shells into the Hall camp - which remains silent. I'm guessing they're hoping it'll loose steam and go away but from the increasing number of fronts newly launched each week they may have resorted to a bunker mentality... lay low and pray. Unless they start fighting back and stop acting like the Imperial Congressional Office Chuck Schumer set up for them in 2006, and get just as down and dirty as the growing forces against them, John is going to have a lot of free time on his hands come January 2011. There's a new Picture of the Day (PotD) at the PlanPutnam website. This one is of a partially buried oven at the old Cold Spring, or West Point Foundry, an important archaeological site being investigated and partially restored by Scenic Hudson. The site is worth a visit by anyone at almost any time the ground is clear of snow. If you haven't been over there I highly recommend the trip. To get to the Foundry, head down Main Street in Cold Spring and turn left onto Rock Street. At the end of Rock, turn right onto Kemble Avenue and follow that to the parking area at the end. (The field to your right is old Marathon Battery Superfund Site). Pass through the pedestrian gate and turn left to follow the old railroad spur along Foundry Cove and its recovering marshlands, themselves worth the visit. If you're a birder, bring your field glasses. Look to these pages for an announcement of the yearly 'open house', usually held in the middle of June. By the way, the PotD archive goes back several years and consists of photos taken (mostly) in Putnam County at different times during the year. Each page in the yearly archive works backwards in time and many of the images, when clicked upon, opens a larger-sized reproduction suitable for your computer's desktop. One of the images from April 12, 2006 shows daffodils in full bloom. Will they be so again this year on the same date? And now, The News: Confusion over use of town cell phones Phosphorus ban rooted in water safety A Town Reborn Faces a New Threat Volunteers Cull Dozens of Deer in Morris Township (NJ) Get More Produce Out Of Your Garden "Flicking the Lights Off" and Other Reasons to Celebrate Earth Hour This Week in Scandals: Bonus Overkill Drive-By A.I.G. Protest on Fairfield’s Elite Streets Confusion over use of town cell phones Barbara Livingston Nackman The Journal News CARMEL - Responding to a lawsuit by The Journal News, the town of Carmel has released some 1,000 pages of itemized records for taxpayer-funded cell phones issued to town officials. With it came an explanation from Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt claiming it has been town policy for at least the past three years to let officials and staff use town cell phones for personal calls. "There were no restrictions on the use of cell phones for personal calls," Schmitt said in the March 17 affidavit, which is signed and notarized. "(Town Board members) relied on this policy to use their town issued cell phones for all aspects of their personal lives." Read More Phosphorus ban rooted in water safety Greg Clary The Journal News Gardeners and lawn-care companies will have to rethink how they fertilize local lawns if Westchester County lawmakers approve a phosphorus ban that has been debated for two years. The ban, along with other limits on fertilizing lawns, would take effect by 2011. It is designed, lawmakers say, to reduce runoff of phosphorus and nitrogen into the region's water bodies and curb algae blooms that threaten water quality. Read More A Town Reborn Faces a New Threat By JODI RUDOREN BEACON, N.Y. — On a refrigerator in the back of the Cup and Saucer Tea Room here, the owner, Shirley Hot, keeps a calendar filled with notes like “Giants playoffs” or “pumpkin soup.” She also makes little pictograms of each day’s weather and writes a number, lately too often a single digit, indicating how many customers were served. Ten people lunched, perhaps on Waldorf salad or Cottage Pie on Feb. 20. Seven sampled Dutchess egg salad or maybe Queen V’s Quiche the day before. There were two lonely diners on Feb. 5, and two on Jan. 8. On March 9, according to Ms. Hot’s 2008 calendar, it was about 40 degrees in Beacon, and the Cup and Saucer served not a single scone, not a pot of Oolong, no crepes nor cheese platters nor Portobella Clubs. Zero. That is how many people came in that day besides Ms. Hot. Read More Volunteers Cull Dozens of Deer in Morris Township (NJ) MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP)  -- Volunteer hunters killed 178 deer during a recently completed herd-thinning program held in a northern New Jersey town. Morris Township officials wouldn't disclose the specific locations where the hunts were held, saying only that they occurred in open fields and near residential areas. They say no problems were reported. The culling, which took place between November and February, was done by 25 volunteers armed with bows and arrows.   Read More Get More Produce Out Of Your Garden EarthTalk is a Q&A column from E/The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: I want to start an organic vegetable garden in my yard and I would like to know how to combine crops to make better use of time and space. -- Val Thomason, Denton, TX Most commercial farms concentrate on growing a few select crops to supply a wide variety of customers, but gardening at home is a different story entirely. Most backyard food gardeners are looking to augment their family's diet with a variety of seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs throughout the growing season. For those of us who face time and space constraints in our gardening endeavors, combining crops within the same planting areas makes a lot of sense. Such techniques are particularly well-suited to organic gardens, where chemical fertilizers and pesticides aren't used to artificially boost crop productivity. Read More "Flicking the Lights Off" and Other Reasons to Celebrate Earth Hour Join the global movement to fight climate change, save energy and stand up for going green. On Saturday, March 28, the world will celebrate Earth Hour 2009. Once it hits 8:30 pm local time in every time zone, millions of participants will turn off their lights, and make a statement against global warming. While pundits have debated whether Earth Hour really makes a difference, we already know it makes a difference in the hearts and minds of the people. I just finished watching Josh Tickell's rousing, inspirational Fuel documentary, so I'm awash with hope (it actually made me cry a little, as did An Inconvenient Truth). A project of the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour has soared in popularity over the past few years, and now counts more than 100 cities and towns as supporters, agreeing to darken some of the nation's most famous skylines: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Around the world more than 1,500 cities, towns and villages in 80 countries will participate, as the darkness (in this case a symbol of hope) cascades across our planet, our only home. That includes Beijing, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, Paris, Rome, Toronto and Sydney, where the practice began. Read More This Week in Scandals: Bonus Overkill by Alexandra Andrews, ProPublica - March 20, 2009 3:02 pm EDT Every week, we take stock of how the week unfolded for the stories we're tracking in Scandal Watch. Here is how we do it. And, as always, feel free to suggest new scandals. 1. AIG: The U.S. has doled out hundreds of billions of dollars to financial institutions [4], but it took just $165 million [5] to trigger a nationwide catharsis of pent-up bailout anger. That’s how much AIG awarded to executives in its financial products division (which churned out the credit default swaps that nearly wiped out the company [6]) last Friday. (AIG has gotten $173.3 billion in federal bailout money. Here’s our timeline of AIG’s bailouts and bonuses [7] and a Q&A [8] on the bonuses.) CEO Edward Liddy, installed after the initial bailout [9], said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had signed off on the bonuses [10]. But the administration’s official stance is that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner only learned about the bonuses [11] on March 10, and President Barack Obama was alerted two days later [12]. But Bloomberg News reported the bonuses back in January [13], and according to the New York Times, Geithner was questioned about them [14] at a congressional hearing on March 3 and Treasury and Fed staffers were e-mailing about them in late February. (Treasury said last night that Geithner didn’t know “the timing or full extent [14]” of the bonuses until March 10.) Read More Drive-By A.I.G. Protest on Fairfield’s Elite Streets By MANNY FERNANDEZ FAIRFIELD, Conn. — The bus pulled to a stop, and a pastor whose sister-in-law was facing foreclosure, a laid-off steelworker with a wife and five children, and a few of their colleagues nervously stepped out, like sightseers in some exotic land. The exotic land was a residential neighborhood here in one of the wealthiest places in America, Fairfield County, where, at the end of a cul-de-sac a short walk away, an A.I.G. executive lived. The pastor, the steelworker and about 40 others slowly made their way up the street, past the house with the four-car garage, as an international press corps numbering about 50 chronicled every step. The pastor, Mary Huguley, and the steelworker, Mark Dziubek, wanted to knock on the door belonging to the A.I.G. executive, Douglas L. Poling, and deliver a letter. They got as far as the edge of the driveway. Read More	Sign up to have News That Matters Delivered to your email box: Email
Copyright © 2009 News That Matters

NtM - March 20, 2009 - Things To Do Edition

News That Matters Brought to you by PlanPutnam.Org Good Friday Morning, As some of you may already know, I'm about to embark on a journey to, how shall we say it, put my body where my mouth is. Things really start gearing up in April and May with the main event coming at the end of the summer and into the Fall. Because of the time required to make this journey a success I'm going to have to start dedicating some serious time, money and effort in that direction. As a consequence, News That Matters is going on an alternate publishing schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday between now and the end of the year. Fate is a fickle thing though, so things may turn out otherwise and we'll be back to every day sooner than that but, at 3 hours a day - on average - a great deal of personal time is spent crafting this daily column that may be needed elsewhere. The blogsite, however is up and running, as it has been since last October and now averages about 100 individual visits each day. The busiest day was last December 3rd when I posted one of the many versions of the Tilly Foster contract and posted articles about Putnam Valley are the most read on a regular basis. February saw 2360 individual visits! If you'd like to read the blog which includes posts that are not part of this newsletter, just point your brower here. If you'd like to participate, post, comment or pontificate, go to the same link and select "Register" from the right-hand colum. This will bring you to a login screen. Fill out the information remembering that your username is case-sensitive (including the CAPTCHA code which prevents automatic spammers), click REGISTER and a password will be emailed to you. Once it arrives, click on the link, type in your username, cut and paste the password and click through. You'll be brought to a Dashboard page from which you can do all sorts of things like create new posts and edit ones you've already created. One thing you should do is to click on Profile on the left side, scroll down the page and change your password to something you'll remember and then fill out other information about yourself so that readers know who you are. On the Dashboard page there's a box on the upper right-hand side called QuickPress. This is an easy to use place to craft your new posts. If you'd like a fuller editor, click on "New Post" in the bar at the top of the page or on Posts/Add New on the sidebar. There's a whole bunch of events going on this weekend. Get to one of them, enjoy spring! Tonight: Acting Class Open Workshop ACT II The Vagina Monologues Saturday: County-Wide Food Drive Outdoor Gear Swap! AIG Cribs -- Lifestyles of the rich and infamous Vernal Equinox Celebration at Harmony Hall   Great Blue Bugsy Malone Jr. Elizabeth Tryon - Voice of an Angel Sunday: Maple Open House Into the Future: Friday, March 27 Play On! A Comedy by Rick Abbot Saturday, March 28 Dave Bonan's 8th Annual Car-Free Bicycle Anniversary Sunday April, 5 "Wild Man" Steve Brill October 2nd, 2009 Opening Ceremonies for Walkway Over the Hudson Tonight: Acting Class Open Workshop 8PM - It's not what you think! Think of it instead as a recital for the students of director Lora Lee Ecobelli's acting class at Arts on the Lake. Performing in a variety of short one-acts and monologues will be Jon Barb, Chris Blossy, Kathie Freston, Larry Garvey, Jeff Green, Zulie Lozada, James McGuire and Kenn Sapeta. Writer Christopher Durang's Canker Sores and Other Distractions, DMV Tyrant and Funeral Parlor and John Patrick Shanely's Welcome to the Moon will be some of the highlights. Free Admission! Write  info@artsonthelake.org for more information and reservations. ACT II 8PM - Join "ACT II" at Daniel J's starting around 8:00 to celebrate the long-awaited end of winter. The Dan is on Route 22 in Patterson at the foot of the Thunder Ridge Ski hill. Should be interesting. Please stop by if you can and hang/help out. The Vagina Monologues 8PM - by Eve Ensler; local women perform acclaimed Off-Broadway show to benefit Project Hope - a local women's mentoring program.  Sponsored by HOPE's Fund, in partnership with the United Way of Ulster County.  Rosendale Theater. 845-331-4199. reins@hvc.rr.com.  $25, $50 includes members-only reception. Saturday: County-Wide Food Drive ShopRite Supermarket and the Rotary club will be hosting a long-running food drive to assist county social service organizations in meeting the increased food needs of families who have fallen on hard times. There will be a truck parked outside the ShopRite on Route 52 on the Carmel/Kent line to accept donations of non-perishable foodstuffs. More information is here. Outdoor Gear Swap! 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.  Sponsored by Scenic Hudson. Hyde Park Drive-in Theatre, Hyde Park, Dutchess County  This will be a great time to sell your used or surplus outdoor gear  tents, sleeping bags, etc.  and pick up some new gear at the lowest possible prices. Contact: Anthony Coneski, 845 473 4440, ext. 273 More information at their website here. AIG Cribs -- Lifestyles of the rich and infamous See how AIG Executives live with this motor coach tour of some of their homes spread through the verdant hills of Connecticut. AIG executives are getting hundreds and millions in bonuses. Come see the houses that kind of money will buy you in Fairfield County. We're taking an AIG Cribs tour to deliver a letter about how we think we should be fixing the economy to each exec. Sign up! 10AM: Hartford Pick-up (Working Families offices -- 30 Arbor Street) 11AM: Bridgeport Pick-up (ACORN offices - 2320 Main St) Return to Bridgeport at 2:30, return to Hartford at 3:30. Write to joedinkin@gmail.com for more information. Vernal Equinox Celebration at Harmony Hall   2 PM - Celebrate the coming of spring with musician and noted nature photographer Geoff Welch, storyteller Chuck Stead and special guests. Geoff Welch, who is curator of Harmony Hall and Ramapo River Watershed Keeper, is renowned regionally for his musical compositions and exquisite landscape photographs of the Ramapo Pass and the highland's region. Welch will be joined by local storyteller Chuck Stead, well known for his local lore and entertaining tales. Stead, a Professor of Environmental Studies at Ramapo College, is the author of Back Porch Stories. The event is free. 15 liberty Rock Road, Sloatsburg, NY, 10974 (845) 712-5220 Great Blue 7:30PM - Great Blue is back! We're going to be making some homemade music at the Sunflour Cafe (formerly the Lighthouse Cafe) 222 Beekman Ave. in Sleepy Hollow NY on the 21st of March. See http://www.yelp.com/biz/sunflour-cafe-sleepy-hollow. Phone 914-909-5002. There is no cover. This is a small cafe -- very informal and intimate. Come out and support your local musicians. We'd love to see you. Bugsy Malone Jr. 7:30 PM - The 1920’s will be roaring into Brewster this March as The Putnam Children's Discovery Center Players bring Bugsy Malone Jr to the stage.  Show times are Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 pm. at The HH Wells Middle School, Route 312, Brewster, NY. This family musical, written by Alan Parker with music and lyrics by Paul Williams, pays homage to old-time gangster flicks with its bevy of tough guys and show girls. Film fans may recall the 1970s movie of the same name headed up by then child-actors Scott Baio and Jody Foster.  Intended as a crowd-pleaser for all ages, the show features a catchy, swinging score, larger than life characters, a fast-moving plot, and lots of slapstick comic moments.  Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.  Tickets can be purchased at HH Wells Middle School lobby on Mar 7 and 14 between 12-4 pm, and Mar 16, 18, and 19 between 6-9 pm.  To order tickets by mail call 845-621–1260 X306 or email tickets@discoveryctr.org. Log onto www.discoveryctr.org for more information about PCDC’s programs.   Elizabeth Tryon - Voice of an Angel Classically trained soprano Elizabeth Tryon who also writes pop songs, one of which has charted in the Top 10, two others in the Top 20's, will present a pop/classical crossover concert this Saturday, March 21 at 8 p.m. that highlights composers Chausson, Puccini, Copland, and Handel, as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tryon's own contemporary hits. Admission is $10 ($9 for Arts on the Lake members). Tickets may be purchased on-line or reservations may be secured at rsvp@artsonthelake.org. Visit Elizabeth at her webpage. Sunday: Maple Open House 10 am- 2 pm, At Bowdoin Park, Wappingers. Explore both modern and Native American methods used to create maple syrup. Event is free, open to the public, and is both indoors/outdoors, will include demonstrations on tapping a sugar maple tree, boiling sap with hot rocks and by evaporator, and starting fire by friction.  Syrup for sale.  Dutchess County Parks, Bowdoin Park, 85 Sheafe Rd. Wapp. Falls, 845-298-4602, parknaturalist@co.dutchess.ny.us Into the Future: Friday, March 27 Play On! A Comedy by Rick Abbot 8 p.m. at the Melrose School, Federal Road, Brewster, NY. Also, March 27 and April 3-4. This is the hilarious story of a theater group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty authoress who keeps revising the script. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance in which anything that can go wrong does. When the authoress decides to give a speech on the state of the modern theatre during the curtain calls, the audience is treated to a madcap climax to a thoroughly hilarious romp. Saturday, March 28 Dave Bonan's 8th Annual Car-Free Bicycle Anniversary 10 PM - Cousin Larry's Cafe 1 Elm Street, Danbury $7 cover (includes raffle ticket) or $1 off with canned good.  21+ only, Drink Specials. Bands: Fighting Cocks, feat. Philo Cramer, formerly of FEAR, Kimono Draggin (New Haven), 76% Uncertain (CT's veteran hardcore since 1983) Info: 203-730-0035 or 203-770-8304. The raffle will include all the goodies like last year, supported by local businesses and will again include 2 10-trip local bus passes and 1 free roundtrip on MetroNorth and the atmosphere will have bike posters, bike hanging bike angels and many cutouts of Andy Singer CARtoons. Sunday April, 5 "Wild Man" Steve Brill 10:00 am, "Wild Man" Steve Brill, Americas's best known foraging expert, will be paying us a visit here at Native Landscapes and Garden Center( 991 Rt. 22 Pawling, NY). During his hands on program we will learn about the environment and how to get back in touch with nature. To quote Steve, " by studying nature and foraging, we enjoy our renewable resources, and reaffirm our commitment to preserving and protecting our renewable ecological riches."  "Wild Man" will give a brief talk here at the garden center and then we will all venture onto the Appalachian Trail to start dining. "Wild Man" Steve Brill is well known in his field and has been featured on many radio and television shows, and in numerous publications. You can also visit the "Wild Man' on his web site at www.wildmanstevebrill.com. While you're here at the garden center please browse through all our native plants. Don't to forget to ask about our "American Beauties"  native plant program. We look forward to seeing all of you. October 2nd, 2009 Opening Ceremonies for Walkway Over the Hudson NY's newest state park. Take an historic walk across the newly renovated Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge. At around 7:00 p.m. Invited guests and volunteers will gather at the East and West sides of the bridge to take part in the Grand Illumination of the Walkway, bringing it out of the shadows and into the night light of the Hudson River at its mid-point! We need 1,000 folks to play an active role in the Illumination of the Bridge and the Hot-Air Lantern release that will follow it. Folks can bring their friends and families to help them with their Lantern - so it will be a joyous and wondrous occasion for all involved. And, after the Lantern Release you and your group will have the privilege of viewing the Grand Fireworks show from eye level with the display! And, you will be one of the first to step on the bridge! And THE first to go on the bridge at night!   Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. we need ANOTHER 1,000 folks to take part in the Official Opening Ceremony. Officiated by Governor David A Patterson and his wife Michelle, the Honorary Chair of the Hudson Fulton Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration and other local State and National dignitaries, YOU will also have a role! The plan is to TIE A KNOT with two nautical ropes coming from the East and West sides of the bridge. We need folks to hold and extend this MILE LONG rope across the bridge. There will be gala bands, lots of ceremony, kites, wind socks, and a Grand Parade that will flow in BOTH directions across the bridge - and YOU will be right in the middle of it! From your high perch you will see rowing races, the Parade, a jet-ski ballet, a fly-over by the Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome and more! Kids can be a part of this too - so you can bring the whole family.	Contact Us PlanPutnam Shop Putnam! Highlands Open Space Guide House Painting! Rss Feed Email: