Fearing “an unprecedented influx of foreign migrants” from the Southern Border through New York City that they can’t handle and that they believe threatens public safety, supervisors Friday declared a state of emergency, effective at noon.
The state of emergency declaration was crafted using a template from the New York Association of Counties, said supervisors’ chair Bill Federice, as a way of telling the state “We’re not doing it,”–housing migrants that under Governor Kathy Hochul’s own emergency order, could be transported upstate for short—or long term--emergency housing.
Mr. Federice signed the declaration at 9:14am.
It must be renewed every five days and may need t ...

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When Mohammad Jan and his daughters, Esha and Maha, stepped inside the wrecked Best Western, they didn’t see vandalized ruins, just possibilities.
Mr. Jan, who owns and operates the Grand Roosevelt Ballroom, an event and catering space in Yonkers, closed on the Cobleskill landmark last Wednesday.
With his family’s help, he plans to restore all 70-plus rooms, the restaurant, pool, and even the bowling alley; Monday’s visit was the first step.
While Mr. Jan and his daughters waited for a work crew and dumpsters to arrive—and for Code Enforcement Officers Mike Piccolo and Joe Nelson to pry open the doors—he talked about those plans.
“We are very excited to be here an ...

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There may be no other church that tugs at the heartstrings as Beard’s Hollow Church does.
The church that straddles the Richmondville-Summit town line has had services only in August for years, yet its allure stretches to many across the county––and across the country.
A committee is looking to capture that historic magnetism in a book, and members are asking the public for photos, stories, records and any other material to document the past and present.
“The thought is that we’re not getting any younger, and we want to preserve that history,” said Bob Holt, a committee member.
“Now’s the time to tell the story.”
Ananias P. Jump built Beard’s Hollow Church ...

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One-man one-vote?
Or weighted voting?
Twenty-two years after supervisors last updated their weighted voting numbers—and decided not to count either students at SUNY Cobleskill, the jail, or what was then Camp Summit--they’re taking a look at it again.
Supervisors’ votes are “weighted” with, under the 2002 changes, one vote for each 10 residents in a town, based on the latest Census--in ’02, the 2000 Census.
Prior to that, the last updates were made in 1995, based on the 1990 Census; the most recent Census was in 2020.
If you think none of this matters, you weren’t in the audience, tracking the numbers, when supervisors voted in December not to renew Public ...

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Memorial Day services to honor fallen veterans will start in Schoharie tonight, Thursday, and continue in other towns on Monday.
In Schoharie, the parade will start at 6pm and march from Bridge Street to the Old Stone Fort.
At the fort, military trucks will play music, and the Boy Scouts and Schoharie Central School band and choir will be on hand.
Fire Chief Doug Stinson will welcome the crowd and speak about Memorial Day, Scouts will raise the flag, and the band will play ‘America the Beautiful.
The fire department will then hold an open house, inviting visitors to watch a 360-degree virtual reality movie that shows the dangers of house fires and benefits of inst ...

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