I will be getting this one

IPod's Law: The Impossible Is Possible

APPLE says its iPod music player and iTunes music store have 74 and 85 percent of their worldwide markets. But according to Gene Munster, a Piper Jaffray analyst, the end is near. "Nobody can sustain an 80 percent market share in a consumer electronics business for more than two or three years," Mr. Munster told CNN. "It's pretty much impossible."

Well, he's right about one thing: Apple's market share won't stay at 80 percent. It's about to go up.

If you doubt it, then you haven't yet handled the iPod Nano: a tiny, flat, shiny wafer of powerful sound that Apple unveiled last week. Beware, however: to see one is to want one. If you hope to resist, lash your credit card to your wallet like Odysseus to the mast.

Some music players contain a tiny hard drive, offering huge capacity. Others store music on memory chips, which permit a much more compact design. (This type is known as a flash-memory player, or flash for short.)

What's so clever about the iPod Nano ($249) is that it merges these two approaches. It contains memory chips, so it's dazzlingly tiny - 3.5 by 1.6 by 0.27 inches, to be exact, about the size of a folded playing card and thin enough to slip under a door. Yet because Apple stuffed it with four gigabytes of memory, it holds as much music as some hard-drive players - more than 1,000 songs. (Apple also offers a $199 model with half the capacity.) Because it contains no moving parts, the Nano is less delicate than full-size iPods and virtually skip-proof.

To sweeten the deal, Apple endowed the Nano with a sharp color screen (176 by 132 pixels, 1.5 inches diagonal), the better to show off album-cover art, your photo collection and the iPod's famously clean menu system. The Nano even has room for a click wheel, the scrolling device that makes iPod navigation simple even when you're hunting for a musical needle in a haystack of albums.

The resulting slab is sweet, small and shiny, a comfortable fit in the middle third of your palm. It weighs so little (1.5 ounces), you don't have to worry about dropping it onto pavement; even if it flies from your hands, the earbud cord catches it like a leash. Once again, Apple has mastered a lesson that its rivals seem unable to absorb: that the three most important features in a personal music player are style, style and style.

Apple is so confident in the Nano's appeal, in fact, that it has decided to make room in the product line by discontinuing the world's best-selling player, the iPod Mini. That's a gutsy move, because the Nano isn't really the same thing.

THE Mini, for example, was available in four metallic colors; the Nano comes only in shiny black or white. (Both have the traditional fingerprint-prone chrome back panel. And both come with earbuds in the traditional status-symbol color, which PC Magazine wittily calls "mug-me white.") The Mini held much more music, too; $200 for four gigabytes of storage instead of two, for example.

The Nano's battery doesn't last as long, either: 14 hours instead of the Mini's 18, and rival flash players' batteries run much longer still. And the Nano can't connect to your Mac or PC with a FireWire cable, as all previous iPods could (except the Shuffle). Instead, the Nano comes with a snow-white U.S.B. cable.

If your computer has a U.S.B. 2.0 jack, filling up your Nano takes about the same time as a FireWire cable would; for example, 700 songs and 1,200 photos take about nine minutes to transfer from your computer on the very first sync. But if your computer has only a regular U.S.B. 1.1 connector (and this includes Macs that are only two years old), you could practically sing your songs in the time it takes to transfer them to the Nano.

Finally, as much as the Nano may look like a scale model of the original iPod, it lacks some familiar features. It can display photos on its postage-stamp screen, but can't connect to a TV for showing off to the masses, as the big iPods can. None of the current iPod microphones, remote controls or digital camera photo-transfer adapters work on the Nano, which lacks the necessary jacks. (The Nano does have a standard iPod docking connector, however, so you can still use iPod speakers, chargers and some FM-radio car transmitters.)

But even though Apple taketh away, Apple also giveth; the Nano offers a raft of features never before seen in an iPod. A world clock shows you what time it is in several cities of your choice. The elegant new digital stopwatch, complete with lap counter, is a natural enhancement on a gadget whose fan club includes an awful lot of joggers and gym members. And if you've caught nosy co-workers toying with your 'Pod once too often, you can now lock them out with a four-digit password.

Like other iPods, the new one is designed to synchronize its audio material with the free iTunes jukebox software for Mac and Windows; it handles songs copied from your own CD collection, songs you've bought from Apple's online music store, audio books from Audible.com, and any of 15,000 free weekly podcasts (wildly uneven, and wildly entertaining, amateur radio shows). But only the Nano identifies, with a blue dot, the podcasts you haven't yet listened to, and only the Nano can display the lyrics of whatever song is now playing. (That trick requires you to install the new 5.0 version of iTunes and paste the lyrics in yourself.)

Most iPods have long been able to keep your address book and calendar synched with your computer - if it's a Mac. But thanks to iTunes 5.0, the Nano and other iPods can import this information automatically from Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express on a Windows PC.

Some critics have complained that the Nano's headphone jack is on the bottom edge, not the top. That particular invention's mother may have been necessity - as it is, you wonder how Apple crammed so many components into a machine the size of a gum wrapper - but it turns out to be a blessing in a couple of situations.

First, when you extract the iPod from your pocket, you no longer have to flip it around to see its screen and controls. Second, Apple offers a pricey but extremely convenient accessory called Lanyard Headphones ($39): a simple, tangle-free way to both wear and hear your iPod while you walk, work out or drive. Because the Nano hangs upside-down from the lanyard, the text on the screen is upright when you glance down at your stomach.

The Nano will not come as good news to the growing membership of the curmudgeon club: people who resent the iPod's success (22 million sold so far) and its trendiness. They're fond of declaring that other players offer more features for less money.

In this case, however, they'll have a tough time. Want to know what happens when you pit other players against the Nano, mano a mano? You give up, because no other flash player on the market offers anything close to the Nano's concept or capacity.

Two-gigabyte flash players are rare as hen's teeth in the United States, and rival four-gigabyte models are nonexistent (one gigabyte is generally the maximum). Color screens are uncommon on flash players, too; Samsung and iRiver each make one, but they're a lot bigger, uglier and less capacious.

So are the analysts right that the sun will soon set on the iPod Age? The truth is, the iPod has faced stiff competition from some of the industry's best-known companies since the day it was introduced. Yet even after four years, all of Dell's horses and all Sony's men haven't made a dent in the iPod's dominance. And with the introduction of gorgeous, functional and elegant iPod Nano, that's not about to change.

We need Jet Blue

Two airlines file Chapter 11; Jet Blue gets first of new breed of jet

Northwest Airlines Corporation yesterday announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.

Delta Air Lines announced that to address its financial challenges and support its ongoing efforts to become a simpler, more efficient and cost-effective airline, the company and its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.

Northwest flies from Stewart Airport to Detroit and Delta recently ended its daily flights from Newburgh to Cincinnati.

JetBlue Airways, meanwhile, this week took possession of its first Embraer 190 regional jet. The new breed of jet, which previously was built with 50 seats, has now been enlarged to 100 seats.

JetBlue expects to put eight of the new planes in service by the end of the year and 18 more next year.

Senator Charles Schumer has been saying that once the airline gets those new planes, they would take a look at servicing Stewart Airport. Yesterday, he said he is continuing to urge them to come to the Hudson Valley.

“They are in the process of making their decisions and we are involved in lobbying them, but they haven’t given us any answers yet,” he said. The senator said it will take some time because the airline cannot add service with just one new regional jet in place.

Judge: School Pledge Is Unconstitutional

Judge: School Pledge Is Unconstitutional

By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 6 minutes ago

A federal judge declared the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools unconstitutional Wednesday, a decision that could put the divisive issue on track for another round of Supreme Court arguments.

The case was brought by the same atheist whose previous battle against the words "under God" was rejected last year by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation "under God" violates school children's right to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God."

Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favor of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools.

The Supreme Court dismissed the case last year, saying Newdow lacked standing because he did not have custody of his elementary school daughter he sued on behalf of.

Newdow, an attorney and a medical doctor, filed an identical case on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children. Karlton said those families have the right to sue.

Newdow hopes that will make it more likely the merits of his case will be addressed by the high court.

"All it has to do is put the pledge as it was before, and say that we are one nation, indivisible, instead of dividing us on religious basis," Newdow told The Associated Press.

"Imagine every morning if the teachers had the children stand up, place their hands over their hearts, and say, 'We are one nation that denies God exists,'" Newdow said.

"I think that everybody would not be sitting here saying, 'Oh, what harm is that.' They'd be furious. And that's exactly what goes on against atheists. And it shouldn't."

Karlton, ruling in Sacramento, said he would sign a restraining order preventing the recitation of the pledge at the Elk Grove Unified, Rio Linda and Elverta Joint Elementary school districts in Sacramento County, where the plaintiffs' children attend.

The order would not extend beyond those districts unless it is affirmed by the 9th Circuit, in which case it could apply to nine western states, or the Supreme Court, which would apply to all states.

The decision sets up another showdown over the pledge in schools, at a time when the makeup of the Supreme Court is in flux.

Wednesday's ruling comes as Supreme Court nominee John Roberts faces day three of his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He would succeed the late William H. Rehnquist as chief justice.

In July, Sandra Day O'Connor announced her plans to retire when a successor is confirmed.

The Becket Fund, a religious rights group that is a party to the case, said it would immediately appeal the case to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If the court does not change its precedent, the group would go to the Supreme Court.

"It's a way to get this issue to the Supreme Court for a final decision to be made," said fund attorney Jared Leland.

The decisions by Karlton and the 9th Circuit conflict with an August opinion by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. That court upheld a Virginia law requiring public schools lead daily Pledge of Allegiance recitation, which is similar to the requirement in California.

A three-judge panel of that circuit ruled that the pledge is a patriotic exercise, not a religious affirmation similar to a prayer.

"Undoubtedly, the pledge contains a religious phrase, and it is demeaning to persons of any faith to assert that the words `under God' contain no religious significance," Judge Karen Williams wrote for the 4th Circuit. "The inclusion of those two words, however, does not alter the nature of the pledge as a patriotic activity."

Karlton, appointed to the Sacramento bench in 1979 by President Carter, wrote that the case concerned "the ongoing struggle as to the role of religion in the civil life of this nation" and added that his opinion "will satisfy no one involved in that debate."

Karlton dismissed claims that the 1954 Congressional legislation inserting the words "under God" was unconstitutional. If his ruling stands, he reasoned that the school children and their parents in the case would not be harmed by the phrase because they would no longer have to recite it at school.

Terence Cassidy, a lawyer representing the school districts, said he was reviewing the opinion and was not immediately prepared to comment.

No saving Monroe

Save Monroe fails to take major party ballot lines

By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com

Monroe – Two Republican councilmen and a Democratic supervisor candidate won primaries in Monroe yesterday, defeating three Save Monroe candidates who challenged them for their major-party ballot lines in the Nov. 8 election.
Councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin beat Theresa Budich and Kathy Parrella of Save Monroe in a Republican primary, while Alicia Vaccaro – chosen by the Democrats to run for supervisor – trounced Save Monroe leader Bob Purdy in a contest for the Democratic slot.
Weeks and Martin won despite unusually low turnout in Kiryas Joel, a bloc-voting village with enough electoral muscle to have thrown well over 2,000 votes behind the incumbents.
Indeed, turnout was low throughout town: Roughly 1,460, or 20 percent, of the town's 7,400 Republicans took part in that primary, while almost 1,020, or 20 percent, of Monroe's 5,100 registered Democrats voted.
Since all six primary candidates had minor-party ballot lines to fall back on, what was at stake yesterday was the stature and party-line votes that come with running on a major-party line in November.
The Save Monroe candidates will be on the Nov. 8 ballot on the Conservative Party line.

Just one more arrested and the camp stays open

September 13, 2005

Monroe
Camp La Guardia resident arrested

State police arrested a 46-year-old Camp La Guardia man yesterday after he reportedly tried to use a fake check to buy CD players, cigarettes and personal hygiene items from a Wal-Mart.
Darryl Kelley, who has lived at the Chester men's homeless shelter for a year, used a forged Pennsylvania drivers license while trying to use the counterfeit check, state police said.
Police said they also found a small amount of crack cocaine in a pipe.
Kelley was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony; and second-degree criminal impersonation, attempted petty larceny, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, misdemeanors.
He was being held in Orange County Jail on $3,000 cash bail.

Today's the day!

Woodbury
Council (2 seats, 4-year term) – Republican
Geraldine Gianzero*
Michael F. Queenan
Henry J. Sullivan

Diana's secret government

September 13, 2005

Diana's secret government
The Orange County executive is displaying a disturbing disregard for public trust.

Orange County Executive Edward Diana campaigned for that office in 2001 as a man of the people. A small businessman and teacher who understood the pressures on taxpayers and local governments and the need for trust between them and county government. A county legislator who recognized the importance of a respectful working relationship between the legislative and executive branches of county government.
Where has that Ed Diana gone? The past couple of weeks have offered three examples of an elected official behaving like a government unto himself. Accountable to no one. More emperor than executive.
- The Camp La Guardia secrets: Diana met in late August with top officials from New York City to discuss continuing problems at the city's homeless shelter for men. Supervisors from the towns of Chester and Blooming Grove and the mayor of the Village of Chester had asked to be included in the meeting since they represent county residents most affected by the shelter and the way it is run. Their request was denied.
But Diana added injury to insult by refusing to reveal anything that was discussed at the meeting. Now, this was a meeting of public officials from Orange County and New York City (including Mayor Michael Bloomberg's chief of staff and the city's commissioner of homeless services). They discussed, we presume, the way millions of public tax dollars are being spent and persistent Orange County taxpayer complaints that the shelter's managers were not living up to an agreement Orange County had won by suing the city.
All Diana said after the meeting, in a prepared press release, is, "We had a productive meeting … I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp La Guardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialogue between Orange County and New York City."
That might generously be described as a crock. Blooming Grove Supervisor Charles Bohan was less generous, saying, "It's garbage, that's all."
Bohan noted that he and the other local officials helped formulate the agreement on who is admitted to the camp and how it should be run and had been talking with city officials about it for years. What neighbors of the camp have been pressing for is an independent monitor to assess the way Goodwill is running it. Will they get it? Diana's not talking.
- The police academy end run. County legislators – Diana's fellow Republicans as well as Democrats – were livid with Diana for ramming through a county police academy without bothering to ask them about it. Seeing as they're supposed to approve funding for county programs, they had a good point.
Legislature Chairman Alan Seidman, R-Salisbury Mills, also noted that the police academy represented a policy shift and legislators were upset about "being left in the dark."
The training academy had been discussed with legislators and support slowly grew after initial skepticism. But, although Diana never got a vote of approval from the legislature, the Law Enforcement Training Institute opened with an official ceremony at the county's Fire Training Center.
The money came from funds allocated to the Sheriff's Office, and Diana said that's why he didn't think legislators needed to approve the project. As a former majority leader of that body, he knows better. He did apologize for ignoring his legislative colleagues, but others noted he had done the same thing when he moved to put a sheriff's boat on patrol in the Hudson River and create an equestian center at the county park. Keeping legisaltors in the dark on county spending is not the way to maintain a harmonious working arrangment.
- The blackout on Homeland Security funds. When this newspaper asked emergency management officials in Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties to detail what they had done with federal Homeland Security grants, only Orange officials balked. Only after the Record appealed under the Freedom of Information act, did Orange comply with the request, by providing 158 pages, with more blacked out than readable.
This is county government being accountable to the people? On fighting terrrorism no less? County officials said their concern was "the safety of the public and first responders." What, Sullivan and Ulster officials don't have the same concerns?
People have a right to know how their money is being spent and that can be done without revealing the most sensitive items.
All we know is Orange County got $650,000 from the federal government to improve defenses against terrorism. If you want to know how that money was spent, call the emperor.

Never Forget!

Supports Sullivan

Supports Sullivan
I am writing in support of Henry "Hank" Sullivan, who is running for the Woodbury Town Board. He has long been a voice of the public, attending as many Town Board, Planning Board and Zoning Board meetings as he can, speaking up on issues that affect the quality of life of all town residents. His love for the town he calls home has prompted him to seek a seat on the board to give a voice to the people of Woodbury.
There are many important issues facing our community, especially those concerning growth, planning and zoning. Sullivan has voiced strong opposition to the proposed local laws that aim to lower zoning requirements in some areas of town to benefit developers looking to cash in on local fears of annexation.
As a Town Board member, Sullivan will not only speak out for the people of Woodbury but also will listen so that the voices of all residents will be heard.
Please join me in voting for Henry "Hank" Sullivan on primary day, Sept. 13, and on Election Day, Nov. 8. To save Woodbury, all our voices must be heard!
Buddy Mickolajczyk
Highland Mills

check out this site

www.newyorkstategasprices.com

Local cops head to New Orleans

September 06, 2005

Local cops head to New Orleans

By Dave Richardson
Times Herald-Record
drichardson@th-record.com

Woodbury – Five local police officers are heading to devastated New Orleans to help bring law and order back to the city.
The five men are all members of the Regional Entry and Containment Team, a 20-officer, SWAT team-like quick reaction force trained to deal with the worst, most dangerous crimes. Led by Woodbury police Sgt. Cliff Weeks, the team, traveling in a pair of motor homes, should be in Covington, La., on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, by tonight for a 10- to 14-day deployment.
"What exact mission we'll be assigned, we don't know, but they wanted us there as a tactical unit," Weeks said. "It seems like the right thing to do, so we're doing it."
The team will deploy with its weapons and equipment, along with two boats, and will be self-sufficient, Weeks said. He said an outpouring of support from local merchants and the community helped make the trip possible.
Wal-Mart offered donations of food, insect repellent and other goods. Woodbury Common stores Timberland and the North Face donated boots, backpacks and other equipment, and the mall's management rallied other stores to help the team, Weeks said.
Weeks will be leading Woodbury Officers Kevin Phillips, Chad Quackenbush and John Bourke, and Harriman police Sgt. Jeff Mahran on the mission.

Save Woodbury?

Save Woodbury?
I keep seeing signs around town saying Save Woodbury and I started to think about all the things we can save Woodbury from. What we will save the town is a Vision and a Mission statement just like in the corporate world, that’s what we do every year or two. But then again a vision is a comprehensive plan or a master plan and well we all know the story on that. But let’s not dwell on that but look at the past and see how we got here today. We need to look back at the Town, zoning and planning boards of the 1980’s and 90’s who put us in this “save mode”. But let’s not forget the consultants who we paid thousand and thousands of dollars only to tell us to down zone then up zone and now telling us to down zone again. What we really need to Save Woodbury is Just start over, work together with people who live here not who make long term planning decisions and don’t have to live here. Rather then save lets get better planning with a long term vision.

wow thats a lot for gas

Housing Slowdown Could Spell Trouble

Housing Slowdown Could Spell Trouble By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Mon Sep 5, 5:42 PM ET



The nation's red-hot housing market may finally be nearing its peak, meaning the end of double-digit annual percentage price gains for homeowners and potential trouble for more recent purchasers who stretched to buy.

That's the assessment of economists, who concede they have been forecasting a cooldown in housing for some time only to be confounded as sales and prices continued to boom.

Sales have certainly been sizzling this year, putting the country on track for a fifth straight year of record purchases of new and existing homes.

Home prices have been surging as well. The government reported last week that prices jumped by 13.4 percent in the April-June quarter this year, compared with the same period a year ago, the biggest increase in 25 years. That is more than double the average annual price gains of 6 percent recorded over the past three decades.

But scattered among the statistics are some signs of a slowdown. In July, sales of existing homes fell by 2.6 percent even though the nationwide median price rose to a record $218,000.

Homes in some areas are staying on the market longer before they sell and the Mortgage Bankers Association reports that its index of demand for home mortgages now stands 11 percent below a June peak.

And none other than Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said that "the housing boom will inevitably simmer down" with prices slowing and possibly even falling.

The issue of how much of a slowdown will occur and whether home prices will fall or just not rise at double-digit rates will depend to large extent on the course of interest rates in coming months.

"I think what we have in store is a slow deflating of the housing bubble, not a bursting of the bubble," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com. "But if mortgage rates rise more sharply than I am expecting, then the downturn in housing could be more severe."

The devastation from Hurricane Katrina could turn out to help the housing industry, mainly through falling interest rates. Investors pushed rates lower this week in anticipation that Katrina and the resulting surge in energy prices will act as a drag on economic growth and could persuade the Federal Reserve to pause in its 14-month campaign to push rates higher. As a result, rates on 30-year mortgages dipped to 5.71 percent, down from a high this year of 6.04 percent set in late March.

David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, said rebuilding from Katrina's devastation probably will not have much impact on the overall housing market since residential building permits for all of Louisiana and Mississippi last year amounted to just 1.8 percent of the national total.

But analysts are forecasting that housing sales will begin to decline from record levels by the end of this year and into 2006. The slowing sales pace is expected to end the super-sized price gains many parts of the country have experienced.

Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp. in Cleveland, said he believes 53 metropolitan areas, representing 31 percent of the country's housing market, were "extremely overvalued and confront a high risk of a future price correction."

And what might that price correction look like? DeKaser said over the past 20 years, 64 cities have seen home price declines of 10 percent or more over a period of two years. But all of those declines occurred along with a weak overall economy, something not present now.

But if rising energy prices spread into more widespread inflation pressures and the Fed feels it needs to raise interest rates more quickly, then analysts said housing could be in for a rougher landing.

Those most vulnerable in such a situation would be homeowners who took advantage of the growing popularity of various types of new mortgage products such as interest-only loans. They allow buyers to pay only interest initially while charging a lower interest rate that remains fixed for a certain period, often the first three years of the loan.

The problem comes when the introductory period ends. Then holders of these loans are faced with a double-payment shock. The interest rate they must pay is likely to rise and they will have to make not only interest payments but also begin paying back the principal.

Homeowners with already stretched finances may find themselves unable to make the new monthly payments, forcing them either to sell their homes or default on their mortgages. Either development would dump more supply into a slowing market and thus further depress prices.

But many analysts don't believe that doomsday scenario will come into play to any significant extent unless the economy seriously weakens. They note that even with the growing popularity of interest-only loans and various other types of mortgages that feature low down payments, the number of loans going into delinquency has been falling.

Some see a slowdown in home sales as beneficial

"If the frenzied buying levels off, the market will become more balanced between supply and demand" and help to ease price pressures, said Lawrence Yun, senior economist at the National Association of Realtors.

"This will certainly not be like the stock market bust of 2000. We are just going from a rapid pace to a more healthy pace," he said.

___

With home prices in the stratosphere, many buyers have been forced into more exotic types of mortgages to be able to afford to buy a home. Here is some advice from housing experts on what people should consider in the current environment.

BUY OR NOT: Some people have hesitated to purchase a home, especially in the hottest sales areas, for fear they could buy at the top only to see home prices start to decline. Analysts say it is very hard to time the market. If you need to buy because you are being relocated and you plan to be in the new home for several years, the advice is to go ahead and buy. The chances are that even if home prices do fall for a year or two, they will begin rising and you will recoup your investment when you sell.

REFINANCE: For people who now have adjustable rate mortgages, the advice is to consider refinancing to a fixed-rate mortgage. Mortgage rates have been at the lowest levels in more than four decades for an extended period of time. The blow to the economy from Hurricane Katrina and surging energy prices may keep rates low for a while longer. But the expectation is that rates will eventually start rising again and could be above 7 percent by the end of 2006. Moving to a fixed rate would protect against seeing a sharp jump in a low introductory rate. If the adjustable rate mortgage is also an interest-only mortgage, there will be a second payment shock when the homeowner has to start paying interest and the principal of the loan.

INVESTORS: People who have been playing the hot real estate market by buying homes only to turn around and resell them at a profit should reconsider that approach. That strategy could prove dangerous if, as expected, home sales retreat from their current record highs and prices stop rising at double-digit rates.

OTHER IDEAS: People who find they are still priced out of a particular area might consider moving to a smaller house or farther out. For people 62 or older and in need of cash, they might consider taking out a reverse mortgage that would allow them to borrow against the equity in their home and never repay the loan as long as they live in the house.

Vote for Sullivan

Vote for Sullivan
When supporting a candidate for any public office, in a relatively small town like Woodbury, it is important to know as much as possible about the individual.
If you want to be represented by a common-sense person, a person who works for you, a person who has proven year after year of his commitment to our community, Hank Sullivan is the person. He has attended and participating in almost every Planning Board, Town Board and Zoning Board meeting, because all he wants is what's best for us here in Woodbury, Then Please join me on Primary Day September 13, 2005, by coming out and vote for Henry "Hank" Sullivan.
There are many serious issues in Woodbury right now, and we need leadership that makes our residents the priority, not special-interest groups, developers, big box retailers, and lawyers, all of whom want to control our town’s future.
I can say firsthand that Hank Sullivan is a believer in the importance of a community working together to solve problems. Hank like myself believes in open government, fiscal responsibility and controlled growth. A small number of people here in Woodbury support high density development and want us to look like Rockland County, with more houses, more traffic and higher taxes. I urge everyone to come out and help Save Our Town. Vote for Endorsed candidate Hank Sullivan for town councilman.

Michael Aronowitz Councilman,
Town of Woodbury

Lets see who else steps up to help

Kuwait donates $500 mln oil products for Katrina 1 hour, 4 minutes ago



Wealthy OPEC nation Kuwait is donating $500 million worth of oil products and other humanitarian aid to its ally the United States to ease the impact of Hurricane Katrina, state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday.

"The humanitarian aid is oil products that the devastated (U.S.) states need in these circumstances, plus other humanitarian aid to lessen the devastation these three states have been subjected to," Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah told KUNA.

Sheikh Ahmad said the gesture was a duty toward a friend by the tiny Gulf Arab state which was liberated in 1991 by a U.S.-led multinational coalition from seven months of occupation by Iraq.

The minister, who is also the OPEC chief, was speaking after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers. Tiny Kuwait controls nearly a tenth of global petroleum reserves.

I agree with them close the camp

Candidates say homeless shelter must close

Chester — Camp LaGuardia has got to go.

That's what Michael Edelstein, Democratic candidate for Orange County Executive, said during a press conference on Thursday. Camp LaGuardia, a New York City-owned homeless shelter, creates psychological problems for the people who are housed there and social problems for Chester.

"I don't think tweaking will make this a good facility for our community," he said. "The time for that is past."

If homeless men are to be reintegrated into society, he said, they need to be close to the place where they will be living.

"It is long past time they [the city] dealt with its homeless at home and not in our community," he said.

Edelstein and Chester Councilman Noel Spencer, who is running for the eighth Legislative District, said the 325-acre campus could be a great asset for Orange County and for New York City.

"That's the carrot — there are excellent uses for this property that could benefit the city," Edelstein said.

The stick would be pressure from the county executive, legislators, town officials, and community activists and the threat of a possible lawsuit, he added.

Spencer outlined his ideas for reducing the size of Camp LaGuardia and using the real estate in productive ways.

"New York City, through the excellent work of Commissioner of Homeless Services Linda Gates, is reducing the homeless population," he said. "She has worked with them to eliminate the mindset that leads people to return to homelessness after they have been placed in permanent homes."

He estimated the reduction in homelessness to be at about 18 percent. The city closed a large homeless shelter in June, Spencer said, and he has asked city officials to move people from Camp LaGuardia rather than close shelters in the city. Spencer also had suggestions for uses of the property that could benefit the city.

The city is currently trying to attract such industries as biotechnology and other research-based enterprises, he said, adding that Camp LaGuardia would be an excellent spot for this purpose. It could also serve as a college campus or a five-star hotel complex, golf course and recreation center, he said.

"This could be a win-win," said Spencer. "Showing the city how it can benefit would be more effective than threats and lawsuits."

The ideas for encouraging the city to close Camp LaGuardia, given its reduction in homelessness, are excellent, Edelstein said, but they are long term. In the immediate future, the city must be made to comply with the so-called Rampe Agreement, a set of conditions contained in a court settlement during the term of former County Executive Joseph Rampe. This will require a concerted effort, which he contends County Executive Edward Diana has not made.

"This past week, Eddie Diana met with New York City officials in a closed-door meeting to discuss Camp LaGuardia issues," Edelstein said (see related story, page 6). "The only thing he reported was that the talks were ‘useful.' The time for such empty talks with the city are over."

Edelstein also faulted Diana for the timing of the talks with New York City, which were held last week.

"He waited until the last second of his term, and he now says he's happy with the talks."

Diana has described the talks as productive, but has not specified what, if any, agreements were reached.

You think Eddie really cares?

Chester kept in dark about homeless shelter meeting

By Dave Gordon
Chester — Officials from the towns and village closest to the Camp LaGuardia homeless shelter say they are outraged to have been excluded from the bargaining table.

Orange County Executive Edward Diana met with New York City officials on Aug. 26 to discuss problems at the shelter, which is owned by the city's Department of Homeless Services. Present at the meeting were Diana and acting county attorney David Darwin; Linda Gibbs, New York City's commissioner of homeless services; and Mayor Bloomberg's chief of staff Peter Madonia and general counsel Clarke Bruno.

Local officials said they were furious not only for not being invited, but for being kept in the dark about what happened at the meeting. They are under much pressure from their constituents, who are demanding that they fix the problems that spill out of the shelter. These include so-called "quality-of-life" violations committed by some residents, such as public drunkenness and urination, as well as the presence of parolees and sex offenders at the camp.

"Supervisor Charles Bohan [of Blooming Grove], Mayor Susan Bahren [of Chester] and I are writing to express our displeasure at not being included in the upcoming negotiations between the county and N.Y.C. Dept. of Homeless Services regarding the ‘Rampe Agreement' and Camp LaGuardia," wrote Chester Supervisor William Tully in a letter to Diana. "We have been directly involved in the formulation of this agreement from the very beginning and can bring a great deal of firsthand knowledge to the discussion."

The Rampe Agreement is a court-brokered settlement of a lawsuit under former County Executive Joseph Rampe. It spells out requirements for the 1,000-resident homeless shelter, and was intended to improve the safety and quality of life for the shelter's neighbors.

Tully's letter urges Diana to raise several issues with New York City. It calls first for an impartial monitor to verify that the city is complying with the agreement. Tully also urges Diana to press for a prohibition of all sexual offenders and felony parolees, a requirement that residents be at least 42 years old, up from the current 35. The letter also urges Diana to seek agreement to "proportionally reduce the population with any reduction of the homeless population in the city."

Tully said on Tuesday that he is disappointed Diana has not offered any insight into agreements that may have been reached during the discussion. He does not even know whether the issues he and the other officials presented were raised at all.

"I called Diana's office yesterday," Tully said on Tuesday. "He wasn't in. I called today, and they said he was on vacation until the end of the week. I went to great lengths to let him know I was disappointed when we weren't invited, and I was told he would keep us informed."

In a press release following the meeting, Diana stated: "We had a productive meeting with key officials from the City of New York Mayor's Office and the New York City Department of Homeless services at which we discussed a number of important issues with respect to the operation of Camp LaGuardia. I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp LaGuardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialog between Orange County and New York City."

Diana spokesman Steve Gross said Diana did not intend to elaborate on this statement.

As to whether the supervisors and mayors would bring a lawsuit, Tully noted that the court monitors the Rampe Agreement, and this would be the place to go.

New York has contracted with the Volunteers of America (VOA) to run the facility.

"I would think the city would also want a monitor to see that VOA is doing the job right," Tully said.

Orange County legislators Frank Fornario of Blooming Grove and Dimitrios Lambros of Sugar Loaf also wrote to Diana. In an open letter published last week in The Chronicle, they pressed for most of the same demands. In addition to an on-site monitor, the legislators want a monitor at the admissions site in New York City. They also ask that Camp LaGuardia be gradually phased out of town altogether.

Fornario said Tuesday that staffers in the Diana administration had assured him that the issues in the letter had been discussed. However, Fornario was not informed of the results of those discussions.

"It could be that they did reach agreements, but wanted to clear them with other city officials before announcing them," he said. "If giving the information out prematurely could close off an agreement I would agree with not giving it out. I understand this is an ongoing process, and another meeting is expected in two to three weeks."

However, Fornario emphasized, if these talks don't lead to positive changes, local officials and possibly the county Legislature could take stronger action, including legal action. This would depend on the response announced after the next meeting.

This round of discussions is "a line that has been drawn in the sand. We'll see whether they cross it."

"What is the largest homeless facility in New York City?" Fornario asked. "Camp LaGuardia," he said. "We deal with our homeless in Orange County with small shelters around the county."

Fornario also criticized Camp LaGuardia because it is not a temporary home, as are most homeless shelters. "There are people registered to vote at Camp LaGuardia," he said. "They shouldn't be there that long."

Fornario noted that he has been working on Camp LaGuardia for 12 years, since he served as a Blooming Grove Councilman. He said he helped get former New York Mayor Rudolf Giulianni to come to Orange County to meet with local officials in 2000. The meeting led to the establishment of the Rampe Agreement.

During Fornario's time as a councilman, the Town of Blooming Grove tried to have part of the camp closed down because of zoning violations.

"We won at the first two levels of the court," he said. "But we were reversed in the Appellate Court."

Chester Councilwoman Cynthia Smith was not at all optimistic.

"This is an election year," she said. "If anything good came out of this meeting, the county executive would be telling everyone. He got nothing, and he's trying to keep it quiet."

Smith said she is "outraged" over the exclusion of the officials of the towns and villages most affected by Camp LaGuardia.

But Diana spokesman Gross said the Rampe agreement is between Orange County and New York City.

"It's still in negotiation," he said.

He needs to spend a day in chester,

August 27, 2005

Details of La Guardia meeting kept secret

By Kristina Wells
Times Herald-Record
kwells@th-record.com

It's anybody's guess what happened yesterday when County Executive Edward Diana met with officials in New York City about Camp La Guardia.
Diana's office isn't saying much, except that issues were discussed and all agreed to "continue the discussions."
But Blooming Grove Supervisor Charles Bohan is pretty sure what happened.
Nothing.
"This was no big deal what took place. I bet (Diana) didn't come away with anything we want," Bohan said. "It's a $13 million-a-year contract ... to hide New York City's most unwanted and we have nothing to say about it."
Diana met with New York City's commissioner of homeless services, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's chief of staff and a city attorney to talk about concerns from residents who live in Chester and Blooming Grove near the 1,000-bed men's homeless shelter.
Diana emerged from the meeting offering no details. It's unknown if one of the issues discussed was about local demands for an independent monitor to verify that the camp is meeting the terms of a 1999 legal settlement with the county.
"We had a productive meeting this morning with key officials," Diana said in a statement. "I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp La Guardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialogue between Orange County and New York City."
The meeting came on the heels of two county lawmakers suggesting policy changes that would ease community concerns about the camp.
"It's window dressing for an election year," Bohan said. "It's garbage, that's all."
Bohan and his counterparts in the neighboring village and town of Chester – Mayor Susan Bahren and Supervisor William Tully – were not invited to yesterday's meeting. The trio sent Diana a letter expressing their "displeasure" at being excluded and reiterated the communities' demands for a monitor.
"We have been directly involved in the formulation of this agreement from the very beginning and can bring a great deal of firsthand knowledge to the discussion," they wrote. "It makes no sense to deny representation to the communities that are most affected."
Bohan laughed when he learned of Diana's statement.
"That's it? You got to be kidding. We've had an open dialogue between ourselves and New York City since I've been in this office. And (Diana)'s opening a dialogue?" Bohan said. "What have we been doing for the last four years?"

Monroe = Rezoning = Unhappy people

Board lets town down
Our community faces serious issues because of poor planning on the part of our current Town Board. Instead of seeking solutions to these serious quality-of-life issues, my opponents compound them through policies of rezoning light industrial properties to residential and multifamily (Meadow Glen and Bald Hill Developments).
The incumbents have also approved spot zoning (approving apartments over businesses). They refuse to increase fines to those individuals that disturb wetlands for development purposes and to remove developer incentives. Several hundred acres of green space are jeopardized because the board refuses to designate them as parkland and protect them from future development.
My opponents recently approved commuter buses to ride on narrow local roads, thereby threatening the health and safety of their residents.
Change does not happen overnight. With the help of my running mates, Kathy Parrella and Bob Purdy, we can stop this downward spiral. By enforcing our existing laws, we can stop this trend of overdeveloped and never-ending traffic jams. We need to increase fines to a level that would truly deter developers from filling in wetland areas and officially designate our green space as parks. All villages within the town should be treated fairly and equally.
My opponents have had a combined 57 years as members of our Town Board. How much more time do they need? How much more time does Monroe have?
Please vote in the primary Sept. 13.
Theresa Budich
candidate for Monroe Town Board

We can create affordable and green communities

We can create affordable and green communities

By Alice Dickinson and Simon L. Gruber

Doug Cunningham's recent column rightly emphasizes the pressing need for new initiatives to develop homes that are within the economic reach of all Orange County residents. But he doubts the wisdom of the county's plan to protect open space and preserve "our way of life. Our rural heritage as a breadbasket to New York City. Our bucolic, quiet lifestyle." ("The housing crisis is what needs action," The Record, Aug. 8.)
It's true – the housing affordability crisis is an issue that calls for strong leadership and it should be on the agenda of every elected official. However, we don't have to choose between attainability and sustainability – we can have both.
State-of-the-art architecture and building principles, innovative land-use planning, and environmental technology should be used to create homes and communities that combine affordability, sustainability and environmental quality. Following the age-old model of traditional villages, new housing can be sited in compact areas instead of sprawling lots. Homes of varying designs, sizes and selling prices can be accommodated in attractive, efficiently organized areas, while large parts of each site are preserved.
Smaller lots, shorter roads and driveways and smart building design can reduce development and operating costs, leaving room for watersheds and wildlife. Neighborhood-based commercial, retail and recreation can be designed to include housing. Pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use designs located in close proximity to existing services can reduce the amount of time people must spend in their cars. Locating housing near existing communities, workplaces and public transit will allow tomorrow's families to own fewer vehicles, reducing costs and air pollution.
Agriculture, Orange County's largest industry, is part of our local heritage, and the county's open space program supports the agricultural economy and the jobs it generates. Protected open space provides many key benefits that can be lost, particularly if land is developed in typical large-lot fashion. Unless development is carefully designed, for example, it can lead to loss of groundwater recharge areas and natural habitats, increased runoff and a gradual decline in both water quality and supplies.
Innovative architecture, including passive solar and renewable technologies, decreases fossil fuel consumption, providing long-term affordability at minimal additional up-front cost, along with a better environment. These benefits will last for decades – a long-term investment in the economic and environmental sustainability of our new communities.
We can, and must, provide affordable and green communities – development that is attainable and sustainable. If we do, our children and the generations to follow them will thank us. Just as importantly, our own quality of life and the economic vitality of our communities will be much the better for it.

Alice Dickinson is executive director of Orange County Rural Development Advisory Corporation; a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to housing, land use and economic development issues for 22 years. Simon L. Gruber is an environmental planning consultant based in Cornwall, who works with municipalities and non-profits on water quality and sustainable site design. They are members of the Take Me to the River development team that was recently selected as one of five finalists for redevelopment of the Newburgh waterfront.

Say it to my face!

Say it to my face!
I love rumors when they are about me; I hope this one is not true. I have many friends in this town and I thank all of you for that. There is an old sports saying “not in our house” and you are making a mistake so unless you are willing to say it to my face you better stop right now because I can fight better than you and just as dirty too. Take this as a warning and the next person that tells me you said something about me or my family is very prepared for the long battle! Remember I was elected by the people and everywhere I go people thank me for standing up for them and doing what is right for the people! You know who you are so if you not want a public fight and want me to hang out your dirty laundry about you and your family STOP RIGHT NOW!

Go Charlie!

August 30, 2005

Blooming Grove and taxes

By Charles Bohan

The only message received by the residents of the Town of Blooming Grove from Mr. Quinton's Aug. 16 "My View" is dismay with his failure to differentiate between village and town government. This "candidate" exemplifies his lack of knowledge of the taxing authority of the school, town and village while attempting to say he has a "business plan."
Mr. Quinton laments about his disappearing taxes but neglects to acknowledge the increased costs of police protection, both village and town, road maintenance, including snow removal, parks and grounds as well as community recreational facilities and senior citizen programs. And I am pleased to have finally made Dial a Bus a reality for our residents.
Under my leadership, Blooming Grove has benefited from federal and state grants. In addition, much needed funding for individual areas throughout Blooming Grove has been successfully obtained to assist in the alleviation of a severe sewage problem in Mount Lodge, and the rebuilding of the Tappan Hill waste treatment plant.
On April 4 of this year, Little League was all but canceled due to flooding and washed out facilities. Yet, within 10 days, the fields were rebuilt and graded with little or no interruption. The great expense of accomplishing this was initially borne by the town, but eventually recovered by timely FEMA filing and disaster declaration.
I am pleased to have brought back fiscal accountability to Blooming Grove and will not forget the grand larceny perpetrated on our town treasury some four years ago. Having listened to repeated accusations over the last four years, I have requested state Comptroller Alan Hevesi to reopen the original inquiry and perform a much overdue forensic audit to fully account for the discrepancies.
Perhaps when this is completed, Mr. Quinton, along with all residents of Blooming Grove, will come to know where his taxes went!

Charles Bohan is the supervisor in the Town of Blooming Grove.

Time to rant

Election 2005
Well it’s that time again and this year we have a three way race for Town Council. We can only vote for two and who will it be? We are back to the 2001 where signs are being stolen, people taking sides and everyone thinking they are right! Wow that all I can say one issues splits a town and who will win. I am watching this one now and can’t wait to see the results of who gets the most votes. This will only help ego’s get bigger for either side and that’s what we need bigger heads when we need a vision for the future. The things I love about elections is that everyone forgets about the past and how they where against so and so and would never support this one, but four years later no one remembers who and why they where for this one or against that one. Oh well now lets see what happens I like the rest have to pick two, then 8 weeks later pick again. The real race will be for Supervisor, this time around it’s a candidate with a resume of leadership and that race starts September 14th.

Save Monroe , How?

SaveMonroe primary challengers

By Bill Lemanski



MONROE-This political campaign season will include an interesting mix of primary election challengers from the grass-roots organization, SaveMonroe.

The contest is for town supervisor and two town board seats on both the Republican and Democratic lines in the Town of Monroe in the Sept. 13 primary election. The SaveMonroe team also scored a coup by capturing the endorsement and pursuing the ballot line of the Conservative Party, which has historically supported the incumbent Republicans.

Vying for the supervisor's position on the Democratic ballot line against the Democrat's endorsed candidate, Alicia Vaccaro, is Robert Purdy, a 28-year town resident who is president of SaveMonroe. Purdy is a registered Democrat and has been active in labor relations as a member of I.U.O.E. Local 891. He is a former Marine and member of American Legion Post 1088, is married with three children and has never held public office.

Purdy said he is concerned with what he claims is the uncontrolled growth and congestion in Monroe. He said the current board has not effectively addressed the issues of "massive traffic, uncontrolled growth and loss of open space." He believes school taxes are too high and the present town board has catered to special interest groups while growing complacent with town problems. He said his focus will be on "protecting the quality of life in Monroe" and that he would include town citizens to a higher degree in the decision-making process.

Incumbent Monroe Town Supervisor Sandy Leonard is the Republican candidate.

Theresa Budich and Kathy Parrella, both registered Republicans, are challenging longtime incumbent town board members, incumbents and Republican-endorsed Don Weeks and Peter Martin in a GOP primary.


Budich has been a member of the Monroe-Woodbury School Board for 11 years. She also is past president of the Special Education PTA and is on the board of SaveMonroe. A town resident for 21 years, Budich and her husband have four children. She works in the real-estate business.

"People need to take responsibility and our current board doesn't want to," Budich said. As an example, she said that Meadow Glen, a former undeveloped meadow on Larkin Drive, was re-zoned by the board from light industry to residential. She claims that the rezoning has reduced the ratable value of the property.

Parrella has been a town resident for nearly 25 years. Although she has never held public office, Parrella has been active in civic affairs as co-founder of The Preservation Collective, a community planning organization, and as a member of the board of directors of Orange Environment, Inc.

She said she shares her colleagues' view of uncontrolled growth in the Monroe area.

Parrella is married, has two children and is an information technology professional, specializing in project management and systems integration.

The team's platform states that the candidates "promote smart and sustainable growth;" support "protecting the Town and its residents;" support bringing services up to 2005 standards;" and seek to "stabilize property taxes."

The SaveMonroe organization has been in existence for approximately six years and has a membership of between 150 to 160 residents.

tion's mission statement is "dedicated to preserving as much open space as possible, ensuring that codes and zoning are put in place and enforced, and keeping its members informed of important issues."

Print this story

I may have to attend this one

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will speak at an Orange County Democratic Committee fundraiser at 6 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Meadowbrook Lodge on Route 94 in New Windsor. Tickets are $50 to $500. Call 567-6778.

His View

August 11, 2005

Misinformation clouds Woodbury housing project

By Jonathan Swiller

In a truly astonishing display of misinformation, Ralph Caruso, an aide to state Sen. Bill Larkin, produced a "My View" (July 29) titled "Who's fooling whom on Woodbury housing projects?"
The central theme of the piece is the supposed demand by a developer for a rezone to high-density in order to realize excessive profits. And, as Caruso, head of the Woodbury Zoning Board of Appeals, should know, every part of this theme runs counter to the facts.
The "high density" he speaks of comes to an average of just over one house per acre.
This compares quite favorably to Caruso's own home, which sits on less than half an acre and which, I am certain, he would never describe as high-density.
Caruso claims that a rezone is not permitted, while, in fact, the town's master plan specifically says that this property can be granted three-quarter-acre to 1-acre zoning if water and sewer are made available – precisely the condition that the developer is offering to meet.
But it is when Caruso writes about the cost of the land to the developer that his piece is most misleading. He uses the price already paid for one portion of the land to extrapolate the future cost for the remaining, larger portion. Employing such phrases as "based on the purchase price" (of the original acreage), he comes up with a totally unrealistic number for the projected cost of the total acreage.
Caruso could just as easily say "based on the selling price of Alaskan tundra, the developer would only pay 10 cents an acre." He is well aware that the initial purchase was made two years ago and that the subsequent purchase of the neighboring ACE Farms property by the development arm of Kiryas Joel has created a bidding war for the remaining property, making the price of the earlier purchase irrelevant. And yet he bases all his projections of cost and profit on this meaningless number.
The project under discussion has pluses and minuses. It must be judged on its own merits. But there is no way that the public can make an informed judgment as long as they are handed such misinformation.
There are many roads to the truth, but Caruso wishes to lead us down a cul de sac. He has convincingly answered his own question: "Who's fooling whom on Woodbury housing projects"?

Jonathan Swiller of Highland Mills is chairman, SOCA at Work.

Close the Camp

Diana meets with New York City officials regarding Camp LaGuardia

Orange County Executive Edward Diana and Acting County Attorney David Darwin today met with New York City Commissioner of Homeless Services Linda Gibbs, Mayor Bloomberg’s Chief of Staff Peter Madonia and General Counsel Clarke Bruno to discuss issues of concern to Orange County and local municipalities with respect to Camp LaGuardia in Chester, NY.

“We had a productive meeting this morning with key officials from the City of New York Mayor’s Office and the New York City Department of Homeless Services at which time we discussed a number of important issues with respect to the operation of Camp LaGuardia,” said Diana. “I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp LaGuardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialog between Orange County and New York City.”

The City of New York and the County of Orange have agreed to continue the discussions started today.

Warwick does it again

Town adds Mabee Farm to protected property

WARWICK-The Mabee farm has been in the family for three generations, going back to 1921. Last week, Raymond and Carol Mabee ensured that the land would stay just as it is - open and green - for many generations to come.

The Town of Warwick and The Scenic Hudson Land Trust closed last week on the development rights to the 74-acre farm, located on Lower Wisner Road in Bellvale. The total cost was $477,300, with the state contributing $259,113, Scenic Hudson chipping in $59,662.50 and the town giving $158,524.50 from its own Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) fund.

The farm is traversed by the Long House Creek and sits on one of the largest underground aquifers in Orange County, according to Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton.

"This aquifer supplies many homes in our valley as well as containing the wells that serve the Village of Warwick," Sweeton said.

This farm connects two portions of the already-preserved farm of Al and Judy Buckbee, bringing the total of preserved farmland in Bellvale to more than 500 acres. With two large subdivisions in the planning process — BCM and The Gables totaling 60 homes, and Foxwood Estates adding another 14 homes — preserving this farmland in this tiny hamlet of about 100 homes is sure to make many residents happy.

Ray Mabee was born and raised in Warwick. He learned to live by his parents' example, said Sweeton, notably their hard work, practical minds and love of the land and their animals. Mabee sold off his dairy cows four years ago, but continues to produce hay for other farmers. It was at the urging of his two daughters that Mabee sold off the development rights of the farm, saying they never wanted the farm growing houses instead of hay.

"The farm has exceptional soils — 66 acres of farmland of statewide importance and six acres of prime farmland," said Cari Watkins-Bates, farmland protection manager for Scenic Hudson. "In addition, natural and scenic resources associated with and complimentary to the agriculture assets of the property have also been protected. As the town notes — this farm is an integral property to complimentary farmland protection efforts in the area."

A town-wide referendum in 2000 gave the town the go-ahead to purchase the development rights to properties in an effort to maintain open space. Voters approved $9.5 million of town funds for this purpose. The Greenwood Lake/Tuxedo School District, which has no farmland, is receiving 24 percent, Florida is slated for 14 percent and Warwick gets the remaining 62 percent. The town has already purchased a ball field and a 2.9 acre lakefront property in Greenwood Lake, which opened in July 2004 as a new town beach.

The town's PDR program so far has preserved seven farms, a total of more than 850 acres of farmland, in the Town of Warwick. Five others are in the process of preservation, including the Brown and Brady properties, bringing the total acreage up to 2,300.

It was just a few years ago

December 22, 2001

Woodbury OKs law to limit growth

By Chris McKenna
The Times Herald-Record
cmckenna@th-record.com

Woodbury – There will still be more cars and school kids. But maybe not as many.
The Town Board has decided after more than a year of deliberation to limit development by requiring that homes be built on larger lots – a minimum of three acres in much of the southern Orange County town.
"The purpose of this law is to mitigate development in this town," Councilman John Keleman said Thursday night before a 4-1 vote in support of new zoning.
Keleman said the law was needed to address booming enrollment in Monroe-Woodbury School District and heavy traffic on Route 32, the two-lane thoroughfare in Woodbury.
"I think this is a very, very important law," he said. "It touches many quality-of-life issues in this town."
Until now, Woodbury's zoning rules allowed new home lots of one or two acres in most parts of town. That will rise to three acres except in places with access to municipal sewer service, where the minimum lot size will be two acres.
The new zoning will not apply to projects that have received preliminary approval from the Planning Board. Sheila Conroy, supervisor-elect and chairwoman of the Planning Board, said Thursday night that she knows of six such projects.
Councilman Henry Dobson voted against the law. He said he objected to the board voting before three new members take office in January.

When will this plan be done?

Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee Meeting
August 25, 2OO5 at 6:30 P.M.
Town Hall, 511 Rt. 32, Highland Mills


6:30 P.M.: Welcome

• Review of Agenda
• Review of August 10, 2005 Meeting Notes

6:45 P.M.: Preliminary Draft Comprehensive Plan

• Comments on the draft
• Recommend modifying parcels in LC (to CR) on Rt. 32

9:45 P.M. : Schedule

• Remaining Advisory Committee Meetings
• Draft Comprehensive Plan
• Final Comprehensive Plan
• Public Hearing
• Final Meeting: Resolution forwarding Plan to the Town Board

10:00 P.M. Adjourn

Now What?

Home prices: Heading for a decline?
Local housing market extremely overvalued'

By Michael Levensohn
Times Herald-Record
mlevensohn@th-record.com

Home prices in Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties are "extremely overvalued," and at high risk for a fall, according to an economist's study published last week.
Richard DeKaser, chief economist of National City Corp., a Cleveland bank, studied first-quarter housing prices in 299 metro areas that represent 80 percent of the U.S. housing market.
Both the Orange-Dutchess county area (37 percent overvalued) and Ulster County (32 percent overvalued) were among the 53 regions deemed "extremely overvalued" and therefore most vulnerable to a price decline.
DeKaser calls an area extremely overvalued if prices are 30 percent higher than what he calculates as a fair value based on average household income, interest rates, housing density and historical prices.
The study confirms something folks around here have long suspected.
"A person who works in Orange County can't afford to live here," said Steve Chewens, broker/owner of Chewens and Associates Real Estate in Chester.
Chewens and other real estate agents have seen an increase lately in price reductions on home listings, as well as listings that expire without a sale, evidence that the balance of power in the region's long-running seller's market has begun to shift.
DeKaser's study suggests there's a strong likelihood that the shift could turn into a full-fledged bear market, with home prices in the mid-Hudson going backward.
Over the past 20 years, he found 63 corrections, instances where a market's median price fell 10 percent or more over a period of at least eight quarters.
The typical degree of overvaluation in those cases was 30 percent.
"How many went that high without a correction?" said DeKaser. "Zero."
Of course, past performance doesn't guarantee future results. But it does suggest that prices are due for a fall.
"A little air could be let out of the bubble without it being a cataclysmic event," DeKaser said.
From 1985 to 2005, the typical decline in a correction was 17 percent. The typical duration of the down cycle was 13 quarters, according to the study.
The Orange-Dutchess area holds the dubious distinction of having suffered through the longest correction of the 63 DeKaser identified – a bear market that stretched from the first quarter of 1988 to the first quarter of 1995 and saw prices drop 13 percent.
Ulster County's most recent bear market was an 18 percent decline between the fourth quarter of 1992 to the first quarter of 1995.

Behind the numbers
Economist Richard DeKaser studied first-quarter 2005 housing prices in 299 metro areas and identified 53 where the median sale price for single-family homes was at least 30 percent higher than expected.
For instance, during the first quarter of 2005, the median sale price for single-family homes in the Orange-Dutchess area was $265,845, while DeKaser's pricing model yielded an expected median of $193,429.
The Kingston area's median sale price was $196,203, compared with a modeled price of $148,183.
The sale numbers are drawn from federal data tracking repeat sales of existing homes. This method provides a better barometer of the change in an individual home's value, because, unlike board of Realtors' data, it isn't skewed by relatively pricey new construction.
According to the Orange County Association of Realtors, the median sale price of single-family homes in Orange was $299,000 during the first quarter, up 15 percent from the first quarter of 2004. In Ulster County, the first quarter median was $228,000 up 21.3 percent from a year before.

Think home prices are high here?
Check out California.
Of 53 "extremely overvalued" housing markets identified by economist Richard DeKaser, 25 are located in The Golden State. Leading the pack is Santa Barbara, with its median sale price of $564,100 overvalued by 69 percent.
Of the top 20 overheated markets, 16 are in California, with two in Florida and one in Massachusetts and in Oregon.
New York's most overvalued market is Nassau-Suffolk (ranked 29th at 42 percent), followed by Orange-Dutchess (37th at 37 percent) and Ulster (45th at 32 percent).
The New York City region, which includes the five boroughs plus six surrounding counties, ranked 68th, at 25 percent overvalued.
Buffalo, Syracuse, Binghamton and Rochester are all undervalued, according to DeKaser's report.

Call it a tale of two townships.

August 17, 2005
Driven by Development
By GLENN COLLINS
NORTH HALEDON, N.J., Aug. 15 - Call it a tale of two townships.
Across the state border, they are 30 minutes, and 20 highway miles, apart. The borough of North Haledon in Passaic County, N.J., is verging on maximum buildout. Seventy percent of the town of Tuxedo in Orange County, N.Y., is open land.
But the towns are linked by more than the rainwater from Tuxedo that becomes the pure drinking water flowing from North Haledon's 1,431 wells.
The destinies of both municipalities are being driven by the urgency of escalating development. That point was made very publicly last month when Randy George, North Haledon's mayor, rose to take the microphone at a crowded Tuxedo public hearing on a new subdivision. He was the only New Jersey official who had made the trip.
Not unlike Marley's Ghost, he summoned up a dire specter: his premonition of Tuxedo's future.
Developers lie, Mr. George said from all-too-personal experience. They offer charming architects' renderings that might bear little resemblance to the projects they build. They talk about revenue riches but leave towns with schools to build, sewers to pay for and taxes to raise.
"The developers promise you everything, but you must remember, they are there to make money," he cautioned the audience in Tuxedo's 1928 town hall. "And as soon as they are gone, you're left holding the bag." The residents of 3.4-square-mile North Haledon and 45.6-square-mile Tuxedo are at the fulcrum of longstanding demographic and developmental forces that have increasingly claimed the attention of local governments and agitated residents across the region.
New Jersey, the nation's most densely populated state, is expected to grow by more than 750,000 people in the next decade or so. Planners predict that the demand from young home buyers, and baby boom grandparents retiring to designer communities in record numbers, will quickly consume all developable land.
"Development has been happening for hundreds of years, but it's more intense than ever because there is so little land left," Mr. George said.
And in a surprising admission for a politician, the mayor said that he - and the six-person Borough Council that he works with closely - had, in part, failed. "We've done well in limiting development, but we couldn't stop it," Mr. George said. Of the new residents, he said, "Though they pay taxes, they cost us money for services." He ticked off a few of the borough's developmental headaches:
Its insurers required North Haledon to buy a $750,000 new ladder truck for its volunteer fire department, to reach the tall new town houses being built in an abandoned quarry by K. Hovnanian Homes. Then the borough had to contribute $100,000 for an addition to the firehouse on High Mountain Avenue to shelter the new truck.
On Sept. 27, voters will consider a $30 million referendum to replace a 100-year-old elementary school.
The police force has grown from 17 to 18, and the public works department has hired new officials.
North Haledon is planning a $950,000 addition to its public works garage. It already had to buy a new $300,000 Jet-Vac machine to scour its sewer lines. To pay for such amenities, the borough had to impose a sewer-connection fee of $7,400 per unit on developers "because the state won't support towns by enacting developer-impact fees," the mayor said.
Burly and bearded, the 52-year-old Mr. George - who is on occasion taken for the actor John Malkovich - has held office since 1999. He and his wife, Lynn, have raised four daughters during the two decades they have lived in North Haledon. A lifelong Republican, he insists that despite his battles with builders, "I am not a tree-hugger."
Like 14 of the 16 mayors in Passaic County, he is a part-timer. Salary: $5,000 a year. He regularly spends 35 hours a week on mayoral duties, and his political avocation has often competed with his painting contracting business.
Developers have the upper hand because "they have more lobbying power than the towns, and more experience than many of the mayors and council people," the mayor contended. "They know more than I'll ever know about getting what they want."
Or as the North Haledon council president, Bruce O. Iacobelli - like the mayor, a Republican - said in an interview: "You have to watch everything the developers do, because they try to get in and get out as quickly as they can."
The borough's vigilance is such that on Aug. 3, it declared one developer, Belmont Homes, in default of its agreement to complete a six-unit complex on Sturr Street after an inspector found construction deficiencies. The developer has promised to address the problems.
The adversarial relationship seems never-ending, Mr. George said. Hovnanian tried to pack more than 700 town houses on its 101-acre quarry property but North Haledon wrestled the builder down to the current total, 301, he said.
"There are always negotiations that go on between a town and a developer," said Doug Fenichel, a spokesman for Hovnanian. He rejected any suggestion that Hovnanian has a build-it-and-run approach: "You don't survive in business since 1959, as we have, if you aren't taking care of municipalities."
Well-manicured, working-class and proud of it, this borough some two miles from Paterson had a 2002 population of 8,033, according to a census estimate, but will soon reach 9,000, Mayor George said.
In Tuxedo, there is still farmland and open space, but, according to Mike Edelstein, a psychology professor at Ramapo College who is the Democratic candidate for Orange County executive in the Nov. 8 election, "we are moving toward buildout like lightning."
Although formerly agrarian New Jersey towns saw a prodigious amount of development after World War II, the current growth in Orange County is "happening at a pace that is much faster," Dr. Edelstein said. "Without effective planning, we are heading toward a high tax base, a relative lack of services, impossibly congested roads and school-tax revolts."
In Tuxedo, Mayor George spoke in opposition to a plan to build Sterling Forge, 107 minimansions on a 575-acre tract of privately owned land within the 20,400-acre Sterling Forest, a preserve that New York, New Jersey and private donors spent $78.2 million to make forever wild. The turnout was so large that the hearing will be resumed Monday night, and Mayor George will be there. Mary Yrizarry, a longtime Tuxedo resident, is looking forward to the mayor's return, since his original speech "gave comfort to a lot of people who are afraid that town governments are not paying attention to these issues," she said.
"The idea that one town government would tell another town government how it really was - that's quite unusual."
But to Louis Heimbach, the president of Sterling Forest L.L.C., the Tuxedo developer, opponents of Sterling Forge "don't want anything to happen here."
"The world we live in has been built by development," he said. "Our world didn't get here thanks to the tooth fairy. Without developers we'd all be living in caves."
Developers insist that towns have all the advantages, by determining zoning in their state-mandated master plans, and in requiring new developments to satisfy inspections, performance bonds and "150 different permits with five different layers of government involved," said Patrick O'Keefe, chief executive of the New Jersey Builders Association in Robbinsville.
Mayor George responded, "I want them regulated by as many people as often as possible."
But Mr. Fenichel of Hovnanian worries that antigrowth bias will drive New Jersey residents - and jobs - away.
The state should be building 50,000 homes a year to keep abreast of its growing population, he said, but "only 25,000 to 35,000 new homes a year are being built."
Mr. O'Keefe said: "Nimby says go elsewhere. But when young people need a new place to live, or aging parents need a place to downsize, or if the marriage breaks up and the partners are looking for a place to go, they find that elsewhere is not a place on the map."

107 more

Hearing on Sterling Forge development set for Aug. 22

TUXEDO-The Tuxedo Town Board will resume its public hearings on the planned Sterling Forge development on Monday, Aug. 22, at 7:30 p.m., at the Tuxedo Elementary School.

The hearings began last month in the Tuxedo Town Hall. Reportedly, more than 100 attended the first hearing.

The board agreed to continue the hearings Aug. 22 in the Tuxedo Elementary school's "cafetorium" to make room for the people expected to attend. The elementary school is located at the corner of Route 17 and Hillside Avenue in Tuxedo.

The Sterling Forge development project seeks to build 107 luxury homes on a parcel of land (straddling the towns of Tuxedo, Warwick and Monroe) surrounded by Sterling Forest State Park. Environmentalists have claimed that the development will damage the integrity of the State Park, according to Rodger Friedman of the Sterling Forest Partnership.
Who is buying all these houses

A uphill battle

SaveMonroe primary challengers

By Bill Lemanski
MONROE-This political campaign season will include an interesting mix of primary election challengers from the grass-roots organization, SaveMonroe.

The contest is for town supervisor and two town board seats on both the Republican and Democratic lines in the Town of Monroe in the Sept. 13 primary election. The SaveMonroe team also scored a coup by capturing the endorsement and pursuing the ballot line of the Conservative Party, which has historically supported the incumbent Republicans.

Vying for the supervisor's position on the Democratic ballot line against the Democrat's endorsed candidate, Alicia Vaccaro, is Robert Purdy, a 28-year town resident who is president of SaveMonroe. Purdy is a registered Democrat and has been active in labor relations as a member of I.U.O.E. Local 891. He is a former Marine and member of American Legion Post 1088, is married with three children and has never held public office.

Purdy said he is concerned with what he claims is the uncontrolled growth and congestion in Monroe. He said the current board has not effectively addressed the issues of "massive traffic, uncontrolled growth and loss of open space." He believes school taxes are too high and the present town board has catered to special interest groups while growing complacent with town problems. He said his focus will be on "protecting the quality of life in Monroe" and that he would include town citizens to a higher degree in the decision-making process.

Incumbent Monroe Town Supervisor Sandy Leonard is the Republican candidate.

Theresa Budich and Kathy Parrella, both registered Republicans, are challenging longtime incumbent town board members, incumbents and Republican-endorsed Don Weeks and Peter Martin in a GOP primary.

Budich has been a member of the Monroe-Woodbury School Board for 11 years. She also is past president of the Special Education PTA and is on the board of SaveMonroe. A town resident for 21 years, Budich and her husband have four children. She works in the real-estate business.

"People need to take responsibility and our current board doesn't want to," Budich said. As an example, she said that Meadow Glen, a former undeveloped meadow on Larkin Drive, was re-zoned by the board from light industry to residential. She claims that the rezoning has reduced the ratable value of the property.

Parrella has been a town resident for nearly 25 years. Although she has never held public office, Parrella has been active in civic affairs as co-founder of The Preservation Collective, a community planning organization, and as a member of the board of directors of Orange Environment, Inc.

She said she shares her colleagues' view of uncontrolled growth in the Monroe area.

Parrella is married, has two children and is an information technology professional, specializing in project management and systems integration.

The team's platform states that the candidates "promote smart and sustainable growth;" support "protecting the Town and its residents;" support bringing services up to 2005 standards;" and seek to "stabilize property taxes."

The SaveMonroe organization has been in existence for approximately six years and has a membership of between 150 to 160 residents.

tion's mission statement is "dedicated to preserving as much open space as possible, ensuring that codes and zoning are put in place and enforced, and keeping its members informed of important issues."

You can't please everyone!

Conservative Group to Oppose John Roberts By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 31 minutes ago



A conservative group in Virginia said Tuesday it would oppose Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' confirmation because of his work helping overturn a Colorado referendum on gays.

The stance by Public Advocate of the United States, which describes itself as a pro-family organization, puts it in opposition to conservative groups that have endorsed Roberts. A number of liberal groups oppose President Bush's nominee.

"The move comes as a result of Roberts' support for the radical homosexual lobby in the 1996 Supreme Court case Romer v. Evans, which overturned a pro-family law passed by the citizens of Colorado in an appalling act of judicial activism," the group said in a news release. It planned a news conference for Wednesday in front of the Supreme Court.

The group's president, Eugene Delgaudio, had said last week that if "Judge Roberts did provide advice on how to overturn this pro-family measure overwhelmingly supported by the people of Colorado, then Public Advocate calls on President Bush to withdraw his nomination of Judge Roberts immediately."

Messages left for Delgaudio seeking comment were not immediately returned on Tuesday.

This is not the first time Delgaudio has gone up against the Bush administration. He criticized Vice President Dick Cheney last year after the vice president, when asked about gay marriage, said, "Freedom means freedom for everyone."

Delgaudio said then: "'Freedom' is not embracing perversion."

The Colorado gay rights case involved Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1992 that would have barred laws, ordinances or regulations protecting gays from discrimination by landlords, employers or public agencies such as school districts.

Gay rights groups sued, and the measure was declared unconstitutional in a 6-3 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996.

Roberts' role in the case included helping develop a strategy and firing tough questions during a mock court session at Jean Dubofsky, a former Colorado Supreme Court justice who argued the case on behalf of the gay rights plaintiffs.

Other conservative groups, including the Traditional Values Coalition and Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of the Colorado Springs-based conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family, are still supporting Roberts.

"We support President Bush and his choice for the Supreme Court, John Roberts," said the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the Traditional Values Coalition.

Other groups also are taking public stands on Roberts' candidacy.

NARAL Pro Choice America plans to start running television ads opposing Roberts on Wednesday, and other abortion rights groups including the National Organization for Women, the National Abortion Federation and the Feminist Majority all have announced their opposition to Roberts.

The National Association of Manufacturers, led by Republican John Engler, is expected to announce an endorsement of Roberts on Wednesday.

___

Something we need in Woodbury ?

Thanks to the Affordable Housing Committee and the Town Board, affordable housing will be a reality in Goshen within 1 ½-2 years. Affordable housing is mandated in certain areas of Town by the new zoning code and there are development applications now before the Town’s Planning Board that include affordable housing units. It is only a matter of time before they are approved.

In order to guide both the developers and the Planning Board through the approval process and allocation of these units, an Affordable Housing Committee, which has been meeting every two weeks for almost six months, presented its recommendations to the Town Board last week. A public hearing on the issue has been set for July 14, 2005, at 7:30 pm at Town Hall.

The proposed law describes as eligible those households that earn between 60%-150% of the median income for Orange County (currently set at $68,150.00), as determined by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”)

The affordable housing units must be interspersed throughout the development and are required, on their exteriors, to be similar to the market units. Only the interiors may be different, although they may not be substantially smaller than the market units and granite countertops and other expensive finishings may be excluded.

Once a household is determined to be income-eligible, preference points are given to volunteer and paid emergency services personnel, current and former Goshen residents, school district employees, healthcare workers, veterans, and senior citizens. If there are more takers than there are units, a lottery system will determine the allocation. An outside agency will be employed by the Town to administer the program to insure professionalism and continuity in the selection process and to protect that process from any taint of bias. The resale of the units shall be restricted to the purchase price, plus the cost of the consumer price index (CPI) and approved capital improvements. The deed will contain a notation that the property is restricted as affordable housing to alert future purchasers (who must qualify as eligible before closing on the property) and lenders.

Affordable housing programs, similar to that proposed in Goshen, are not new. The Deputy Commissioner of Housing & Community Development for Westchester County, spoke to the Affordable Housing Committee and shared the trials and tribulations of that area’s 20-year affordable housing policy. Except for a few glitches early in the program, which have since been corrected, the Westchester experience has been positive and there are now more than 3500 affordable units there.

Affordable housing mandates were included in the Goshen Zoning Code for several reasons, not the least of which, was to enable our families to remain in Goshen. We also do not want to lose our police, fire and ambulance workers to distant, more affordable areas, with the result that volunteers no longer exist or paid employees are less invested in our community and have longer commutes. Westchester discovered that there was a teacher shortage in their schools because teachers could not afford to live where they worked, moved away, and then chose not to commute long distances. It is the hope of the Town Board and the Affordable Housing Committee that Goshen will be able to avoid the flight of personnel needed for the health, safety and general welfare of our community and will remain diverse in its socio-economic base.

Much thanks to the Affordable Housing Committee, which worked at breakneck speed to meet its June deadline: Tom Boxman, Donna Case-McAleer, Ronnie Degnan, Alice Dickinson, Tom Fay, Neal Halloran (Chairman),George Lyons, Rolland Peacock, Jim Thornton, Mike Wilson and Town Attorney, John Cappello.

The proposed law is available for review by the public in the Town Clerk’s Office and all are, of course, welcome to the public hearing on July 14.

They need to close this camp!

Camp fairy tales
Fact or fiction: Camp La Guardia.
Now that the newspaper has everyone believing that Camp La Guardia is such a wonderful rehabilitation facility, let's dissect the news.
As a Chester Town Board member, I attend every monthly Advisory Board meeting. They tell us that they placed 773 homeless men into outside housing. What about the four-plus buses that come and go every day? There are no background checks. If security finds out there is a warrant out for a resident, they have 48 hours to remove him. That is a long time for a sex offender or felon to be free to roam about town.
The article states there are support and resource agencies to prevent problems. The director at the camp only gives me the number of beds available for each program and not how many actually participate in the programs. So how can we know the success rate of each program?
Five percent of the residents end up in Orange County with jobs and housing. Fine, but what about all the day workers who pay no taxes and work when they want? They are taking advantage of Orange County.
VA is to reject criminals and those under the age of 35. The Department of Homeless Services forbids any background checks. How can they explain a Level 3 sex offender, drug dealers and felons?
Sorry, Times Herald-Record, this newspaper is believing in fairy tales.
Cindy Smith
Chester
Bottom line is they need to close this camp!

Just wait till Hillary takes office

Americans didn't flock to Canada after Bush win
By David LjunggrenFri Aug 5,10:37 AM ET
Canadians can put away those extra welcome mats -- it seems Americans unhappy about the result of last November's presidential election have decided to stay at home after all.
In the days after President Bush won a second term, the number of U.S. citizens visiting Canada's main immigration Web site shot up sixfold, prompting speculation that unhappy Democrats would flock north.
But official statistics show the number of Americans actually applying to live permanently in Canada fell in the six months after the election.
On the face of it this is not good news -- Canada is one of the few major nations seeking to attract immigrants -- but Immigration Minister Joe Volpe was philosophical.
"We'll take talent from wherever it is resident in the world. I was absolutely elated to see the number of hits and then my staff said 'You know what? A hit on the Internet is after all just a hit'," he told Reuters on Thursday.
"I guess I'm happy Republicans and Democrats have found a way to live together in peace and in harmony," he said.
Canada generally tilts more to the social and political left than the United States.
Data from the main Canadian processing center in Buffalo, NY shows that in the six months up to the U.S. election there were 16,266 applications from people seeking to live in Canada, a figure that fell to 14,666 for the half year after the vote.
A spokeswoman for Canada's federal immigration ministry declined to speculate on the reasons for the drop.
Toby Condliffe, who heads the Canadian chapter of Democrats Abroad, did have an explanation of sorts.
"I can only assume the Americans who checked out the Web site subsequently checked out our winter temperatures and further took note that the National Hockey League was being locked out and had second thoughts," he told Reuters.
Last year, Canada, which has a population of about 32 million, accepted 235,808 immigrants from all over the world.

Another $570k for warwick

Warwick reaps $570,360 from open space program
Money will be used to
purchase development rights
at 200-acre Brady farm
By David Gordon
Warwick - With the vista of an open field at his back earlier this week, Orange County Executive Edward Diana announced the recipients of county grants to preserve open space.
Brady Mountain Angus Farm in Warwick, the scene of Diana's announcement, was the top applicant among 17 submitted. In all, eight received county open space preservation funding totaling $2.5 million. This money, along with local matching funds, buys development rights or outright purchase of 965 acres.
The funds require a local match. "The $2.5 million handed out today leverages almost twice as much," said Orange County Planning Board Chairman Susan Metzger.
The Town of Warwick received $570,360 toward purchase of the development rights to the 200-acre Brady farm. The total cost is $1,901,200. Federal funds and Scenic Hudson will cover most of the town's match, said Supervisor Michael Sweeton. "We will end up paying very little of this," he added.
To date, 1,300 acres in the Town of Warwick have been set aside for preservation, with plans for 700 to 800 additional acres in the works, Supervisor Michael Sweeton said. The value of the properties totals $11 million; the cost to the town has been $5.5 million with funds from Washington, Albany and Scenic Hudson making up the difference.
In addition to preserving a working farm, the Brady Farm provides habitat for diverse plants and animals. And, noted Warwick Mayor Michael Newhard, the property straddles the village reservoirs and contains much of the watershed for the village water supply.
Meanwhile, the Town of Goshen will receive $634,725 toward purchase of development rights to Knoell Farm, which will cost a total of $1,410,500. This 169.5-acre purchase includes prime soils and soils of statewide significance, according to the project description. It also includes the Black Meadow Creek corridor, habitat for a variety of plants and animals, and scenic vistas. The farm is also adjacent to the Orange County Heritage Trail and the town's proposed bicycle-pedestrian path.
The county will also fund a portion of the cost of buying the development rights to North Star Farm, also known as Rhodes Farm. The development rights to this 131.8-acre horse farm will cost $1,105,700, of which the county is picking up $400,000. The purchase helps to protect the watershed of one of Goshen's reservoirs.
"People are moving out of New York City in droves," Diana said. "We appreciate the growth, but we want to preserve the values we have had. Today we preserved nearly 1,000 acres of open space."
The county has allocated $20 million to open space preservation to be spent over the next five years. In addition, money from the Orange County Water Authority will be used to preserve watershed areas.
However, Michael Edelstein, former president of Orange Environment and the Democrat and Working Families candidate for county executive in the next county election, said Diana's action is too little, too late. "Eddie ran, in part, as an open space candidate," he said. "Now on the eve of his term being up, he makes this announcement."
The county's open-space bond provides for $20 million over five years, but in the first year, only $2 million from the bond is being spent, he said.
Edelstein has criticized Diana in the past for holding an excessive amount of taxpayers' money in unspent fund balances, popularly known as surpluses. He noted that of the estimated $50 million-plus surplus acknowledged by Diana, $6 million to $7 million could have funded all 17 eligible applications.
It is important to buy development rights or conservation easements as quickly as possible, because demand for land is so high, and there is so much pressure on farmers to sell to developers, Edelstein said. Diana's legacy could be the land that was lost through slow action, rather than the amount that was saved.
Diana said Edelstein was off base, and that the county would be awarding another $900,000 in the fall. The funding for next year could be more than the $3.5 million approved this year, and it would certainly not be less, he said.

Water

Woodbury urged to conserve water Town of Woodbury residents are asked to curb their water usage because of mechanical problems with one of the water district's wells. Outside watering may be done only from 7 to 9 p.m. until further notice.

Goshen ?

Town of Goshen is indeed doing unusual things By Douglas Cunningham Times Herald-Record dcunningham@th-record.com I'm sitting across from Honey Bernstein on one of those baking hot days this summer. She's the Town of Goshen supervisor, and she's more than a bit upset with me. We could say angry; yes, angry would cover it. Some weeks ago, I wrote a series of columns about development and land use. The e-mail and calls poured in. I had reiterated my opposition to large-lot zoning. I said that communities across the region latched onto supposed "overdevelopment" as an excuse to enact a building moratorium. Then, these towns frittered away months and even years as they extended the building halt again and again. I said that this usually ended with towns changing the zoning, something that amounted to an improper taking, a seizure of property rights. And, at bottom, I said that this fascination with big lots and zoning changes amounted to the creation of exclusivity – a skewed half-million-dollar market in which ordinary working stiffs can't live anymore. Goshen, among many towns, enacted a moratorium, then did a new master plan and zoning code. Bernstein said that I oversimplified in my criticism. She told me I ignored the many positive things Goshen is doing in its new zoning code. Hence the invitation to her office, overlooking a parking lot where heat rippled from the asphalt. I drank the proffered coffee as she, building and zoning inspector Neal Halloran and I pored over maps, sketches and plans for new developments. I didn't change my mind on the fundamental issues. But I can report that Goshen is indeed doing unusual and intriguing things as it tries to preserve some open space. And this is happening as the town balances on the edge of a housing juggernaut. Here are some of the town's initiatives: Developers are required to put the housing on half of the available land in the parcel, thus preserving open space in larger chunks. The town seeks to use public trails to link new developments with existing parts of town. The town is planning to act as a clearinghouse, an agent, if you will, to transfer development rights to builders who want more density, from landowners who want to preserve the space, like farmers. The beauty of this is open space is preserved without tapping public coffers. Houses in some developments, though on large lots, will be close to the roadway, making the overall appearance more like a village. The town has designated areas for higher-density and commercial development, and is allowing developers to include some modest commercial space in logical common areas. Voluntary provisions for affordable housing, and for greater than 50 percent open space, can lead to higher density. In the so-called hamlet areas, 10 percent of the new housing must be geared toward the affordable end. Bernstein and Halloran showed me real plans, with real projects, already going through the approval process under the new code. Trails link developments; tree lines are preserved. Housing is grouped together. I cannot say whether this will work. I still think Orange County is facing a heck of a problem in providing housing even for someone who makes $50,000 a year. I think there's been a lack of leadership, at multiple levels, in addressing this problem. But that problem likely can't be solved in the Town of Goshen alone. The town's identified its issues and is doing some slick things, and that merits some admiration.

And all he gets is 10 days!

Rafael Palmeiro, who told Congress he never used steroids, was suspended for violating MLB's steroid policy. Story