December 29, 2016

Debbie Reynolds, America's Sweetheart.

1950s film star, Dies at 84

December 28, 2016

Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia in 'Star Wars,' Dead at 60
Rolling Stone
"Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter," Fisher's mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, wrote on Facebook. "I am grateful for your  thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop."

Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the trilogy, tweeted a brief, but poignant, message. "no words #Devastated"

December 14, 2016

SISP is for the birds.

A Beginner’s Christmas Bird Count
Saturday, December 17, 2016 09:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Schodack Island State Park
(518) 732-0187

Join bird experts from the Audubon Society of the Capital Region for a family-friendly introduction to the National Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count. On this outdoor foray, beginning birders will learn all about the Count's history, methodology and contribution to conservation science. Schodack Island State Park is well positioned for open-water winter bird specialties such as Bald Eagle and Great Black Backed Gull, large and common residents which even novices can easily identify. Oh, you'll learn plenty of cool dickey-birds, too! Afterwards, field parties will re-group at the pavilion to compare notes and enjoy complimentary hot chocolate and coffee
Julie Madsen

Please call the Park Office at 518-732-0187 by c.o.b. December 14 to register or for more information. In case of inclement weather, this program may be cancelled. If in doubt, please call the Park office or consult www.capitalregionaudubon.org. The Schodack park property falls within Audubon's Albany County Count circle, which Count teams will more formally census on Sunday, December 18.

December 13, 2016

Columbia Grad Enters STEM Field

Austin Fuller ’14 is one of the first students to go through Columbia High School’s STEM program. As a senior, he took Applied Engineering and Modern Materials with Career and Technical Education teacher Steve Ford.
“It was cool,” Mr. Fuller said. “We’d make different materials and test them. It was definitely different from any other class I had taken there.”

December 10, 2016

John Glenn, Dies at 95

To the America of the 1960s, Mr. Glenn was a clean-cut, good-natured, well-grounded Midwesterner, raised in Presbyterian rectitude, nurtured in patriotism and tested in war, who stepped forward to risk the unknown and succeeded spectacularly, lifting his country’s morale and restoring its self-confidence.

Mr. Glenn was reluctant to talk about himself as a hero. “I figure I’m the same person who grew up in New Concord, Ohio, and went off through the years to participate in a lot of events of importance,” he said in an interview years later. “What got a lot of attention, I think, was the tenuous times we thought we were living in back in the Cold War. I don’t think it was about me. All this would have happened to anyone who happened to be selected for that flight.”

Mr. Glenn did not return to space for a long time. [President]Kennedy thought him too valuable as a hero to risk losing in an accident. So Mr. Glenn resigned from the astronaut corps in 1964, became an executive in private industry and entered politics, serving four full terms as a Democratic senator from Ohio and in 1984 running unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Mr. Glenn began his journey to fame in World War II. In 1939, he enrolled at Muskingum College in his hometown to study chemistry, but he took flying lessons on the side. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, he signed up for the Naval Aviation cadet program and after pilot training opted to join the Marines. As a fighter pilot, he flew 59 combat missions in the Pacific, earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses and other decorations.

November 23, 2016

President Obama, this cannot be your legacy

The clash on Sunday took place after demonstrators gathered on the Backwater Bridge, north of a protest camp in Morton County, according to authorities. About 400 people attempted to breach a law enforcement blockade on the bridge to go north on Highway 1806. The Morton County Sheriff's Department described it as a "riot."

November 12, 2016

Reports of Shots Fired at Crossgates Mall

November 12, 2016 04:23 PM
A police source close to the investigation tells NewsChannel 13 that multiple shots were fired Saturday afternoon at Crossgates mall near the Apple Store.

Robert Vaughn, Man from UNCLE actor, dies aged 83

Robert Vaughn, who died of leukemia today at 83, is being remembered on social media by fans and colleagues in and out of Hollywood, particularly from the U.K.

November 5, 2016

Fall Back: Daylight Saving Time Ends Sunday

Image for the news result
Be prepared to "fall back" early Sunday morning, as people across the United States gain an hour of sleep with the end of daylight saving time.

The switch happens Nov. 6 at 2 a.m. local daylight time. Most devices connected wirelessly to the internet will automatically "fall back" to 1 a.m. local standard time, but don't forget to change any clocks that need a manual change, such as a wall or microwave clock.
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October 25, 2016

SAVE MONEY, SAVE ENERGY, SAVE the PLANET

At the Fair, there will now be about 40 exhibitors providing a one-stop shopping opportunity for answering all one's energy-related questions, and thereby outlining how one can reduce one's carbon footprint. There will also be children's activities and food. In addition to exhibitors, there will be a series of 15-minute presentations on different topics. Admission and parking are free.For more details, go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/173314276434454/ or: http://www.stopnypipeline.org/   

Screwing our Soliers

Thousands of California soldiers forced to repay enlistment bonuses a decade after going to war

Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours, have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the height of the wars last decade.
I feel totally betrayed,” said Susan Haley, former Army master sergeant 47, who served 26 years in the Army along with her husband and oldest son, a medic who lost a leg in combat in Afghanistan.
Investigations have determined that lack of oversight allowed for widespread fraud and mismanagement by California Guard officials under pressure to meet enlistment targets.
“People like me just got screwed.”
In Iraq, Van Meter was thrown from an armored vehicle turret — and later awarded a Purple Heart for his combat injuries — after the vehicle detonated a buried roadside bomb.
Read more... 

October 21, 2016

Household Hazardous Waste Day

ONLY TOWN OF SCHODACK RESIDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS FREE EVENT 
YOU MUST CALL TO REGISTER! 477-7918

See the flyer HERE

Kids’ Cemetery Tour

Saturday, Oct. 22, 10:00 a.m. Mountain View Cemetery, Scott Avenue, Castleton, NY 12033 Join us at the Mountain View Cemetery in Castleton for a family-friendly Halloween tour! We can’t say that we'll see any ghosts, but you will get to go in the vault, find a grave marker that's not made of stone, see the older sections of the cemetery where the founders of Castleton are buried, do a grave stone rubbing, and more! The tour lasts approximately one hour. We will meet at the flag pole.

October 17, 2016

Just for fun

THE LEGEND OF “STINGY JACK”
People have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.”

According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. 
Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. 
Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul.
The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled for Saturday, October 22, 2016 from 10 am – 2pm. This initiative aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

Please visit this link to find a location near you-  

October 16, 2016

Renewable Energy Fair

At the Renewable Energy Fair at Maple Hill High School in Castleton, NY on  October 29, there will be: twelve electric vehicles, a wind turbine, a solar boat, cell phone chargers powered by the sun, solar heat pumps, ways to pay electric bills via renewable energy, a workshop about investing in green energy funds, information on conservation and sustainability. 



Renewable Energy Fair at Castleton Maple Hill High School

Name: Renewable Energy Fair at Castleton Maple Hill High School
Date: October 29, 2016
Time: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM EDT
Website: http://solarsal.solar


Event Description:

FIND OUT ABOUT:
Solar, Wind, & Geothermal Energy 
Alternatives Community Solar Opportunities
Meet Residential & Commercial Solar Company Representatives •
• Test Drive Electric Vehicle
•Get All Your Questions Answered
• Information Booths • Demonstrations • Children’s Activities • and More!
Free Admission & Parking

September 25, 2016

Drunk driver crashes car into Nassau church


NASSAU, N.Y. (NEWS10) – For the second time, a car was crashed into St. Mary’s Church in Nassau.

A car crashed into St. Mary’s on Church Street early Friday evening. According to police, it’s the second time it’s happened.

September 23, 2016

Pass the ziti

Cuomo insiders charged in federal corruption case
By Chris Bragg and Matthew Hamilton Thursday, September 22, 2016

Federal prosecutors brought corruption charges against top state government insiders and business development executives Thursday, scorching Gov. Andrew Cuomo's hallmark upstate economic initiatives.

The investigation is the most serious corruption crisis to face Cuomo's administration, which since its inception in 2011 has pointed to the words printed on a custom-made pin given to all staffers: performance, integrity and pride. Not only is Percoco, who left the administration in 2015 to take a job as senior vice president for the Madison Square Garden Co., a longtime friend of Cuomo — once described by the governor as "my father's third son" — the case touches on two of his hallmark upstate initiatives: the Buffalo Billion and nanotechnology-driven development.
The complaint alleges that Howe arranged for more than $315,000 in bribe payments to go to Percoco and his wife, Lisa Toscano-Percoco, who is not named in the complaint. Howe and Percoco repeatedly referred to the alleged bribe money as "ziti," the complaint says — a code word for money apparently lifted from an episode of HBO's mafia drama "The Sopranos," Bharara said. 

Read more...

Charlotte Protest Turns Violent

Four police officers sustained non-life threatening injuries, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department tweeted early Thursday morning.Watch footage from GMA

182 Organizations from 35 States Call for Congressional Review of FERC

Hundreds of Nonprofit Organizations Join to Demand Reform of Rogue Agency

SNYFGP is an organization in Columbia and Rensselaer Counties that successfully opposed the Northeast Direct Pipeline, which was suspended in April 2016. The organization is now focusing on converting to a sustainable energy economy, sponsoring a Renewable Energy Fair on October 29th, at Maple Hill High School. More information on the event that is free and open to the public is available at stopnypipeline.org, or by contacting Becky Meier at 518-781-4686.

September 12, 2016

Back to School

PSAT

Sophomores and Juniors interested in taking the PSAT need to register in the Counseling Center. The PSAT will be given on Saturday, October 15, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. The cost to take the exam is $15.00. Students should bring a check to the Counseling Center payable to “Schodack Central Schools” by Thursday, September 22, 2016. The College Board makes fee waivers available to schools for students in eleventh grade from low-income families who can't afford the test fee. See your counselor for more information about fee waivers.

September 11, 2016

September 11 on this day

Henry Hudson September 11, 1609: The expedition anchored off Manhattan in New York Bay and then anchored near Albany.


1792 The Hope Diamond is stolen with other crown jewels when six men break into house used to store the jewels.

1814 Begun on the 6th Sept, Americans defeat British at Battle of Plattsburgh during War of 1812

September 7, 2016

Win-Win

Share Discover
Now when you refer a friend who becomes a new Disco
Now when you refer a friend who becomes a new Discover Cardmember, you could both get $50 Cashback Bonus.*

Yes I can

Paralympic Games start today in Rio


Superhumans
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August 25, 2016

September at the Caslteton Public Library

Ongoing Programs at the Castleton Public Library

Computer Help - Learn the basics of computer use in a one-on-one setting. Offered by appointment to fit your schedule! Call 732-0879 to register.

Story Hour with Miss Linda - Join Miss Linda for a story and a craft! For ages birth through 6. Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. on 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29. 

Block Party - Bring in your baby, toddler, or preschooler in for group play with wooden blocks. Fridays from 10:00-11:00 am on 9/2, 9/9, 9/16, 9/23, 9/30. 

Other Upcoming Programs:

August 9, 2016

East Greenbush remembers Mr. Romanowski

Theodore "Ted" Romanowski~Obituary

Romanowski, Theodore "Ted" EAST GREENBUSH Theodore "Ted" Romanowski, 77, of East Greenbush passed away Monday, August 8, 2016, at Evergreen Commons.

August 3, 2016

Schodack Island State Park will be holding our Fall Festival on October 1st, 2016. Vendors are wanted for our event. They are part of what makes our day special.

Kathy Meyer
Schodack Island State Park
1 Schodack Island Way
P.O. Box 7
Schodack Landing, NY 12156
Phone: 518-732-0187
Fax: 518-732-0263

www.facebook.com/schodackislandstatepark


Socialize on Main Street

Join us in the yard next to the Valatie Theater for a FREE ice cream cone AND in front of Beaver Mill Antiques & Great Finds for FREE face painting!
This Friday August 5th from 5-7
Many stores will be open late for your browsing pleasure.

July 31, 2016

Spike in homeless prompts county’s concern


July 28, 2016 by JEANETTE WOLFBERG

HUDSON—Homelessness and veterans’ issues dominated the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Human Services Committee meeting Wednesday, July 20.

The number of homeless people receiving or waiting for county aid increased from 34 in June to 55 in July, the highest since March, even though the homeless count usually decreases in summer, according to the county Department of Social Services (DSS).

July 25, 2016

Lee Bordick Named One-Year Interim Superintendent

The Board of Education appointed experienced superintendent Lee Bordick as the district's interim superintendent at its July 25 meeting.

Mr. Bordick will serve for one year while the district conducts a search for a permanent superintendent, who will start July 1, 2017. Mr. Bordick will start on Aug. 1.

"I'm honored to serve in this role, following a colleague and friend and hopefully continuing the progress made under his leadership," said Mr. Bordick. "I know the school community is very strong and by working together, we'll continue that progress."

Mr. Bordick served as superintendent of Lansingburgh CSD for 22 years before retiring in 2007. Since retiring, Mr. Bordick has served as interim superintendent for Ichabod Crane CSD, Chatham CSD and Wynantskill UFSD. He also served as an interim principal at Catskill CSD.


A glimpse of the "good, old days" in the town of Schodack.

Historian
Schodack's Enduring Heritage

About the Historian's Office

http://www.schodack.org/historian

My office is located on the second floor of the town hall. The files of the Historical Society of Esquatak are also stored in the historian's office. Office hours are on Thursdays from 8:30 until 12:30 pm or by appointment. Please stop in to visit or contact me for research about any questions you may have on Schodack history at 477-7939, extension 316 or by email.


Joachim Staats House and Gerret Staats Ruin
Listed in 1978 and located north of Castleton-on-Hudson on Papscanee Island. The Joachim Staats House was built around 1700 with additions in 1790 and 1880.

Rachael Mattice arrested

Rachael Mattice arrested, charged with falsely reporting an incident

LATHAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) – New York State Police say the case against Rachael Mattice has been closed following her arrest on Friday.

Police say Mattice, 24, voluntarily surrendered to State Police on Friday in Mayfield. She is being charged with falsely reporting an incident.

“Nothing Mattice said happened. It’s all made up,” William Keeler, Troop G Commander, said.

July 15, 2016

Chaos

Apparently all social Media in Turkey shut down
Turkey was in chaos Friday as the military attempted a coup to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan called on the people to take to the streets to defend the government while the military insisted it had taken control and declared martial law.

July 10, 2016

Remembering Bob Horan

Community Invited to "Remembering Bob Horan - Always in Our Hearts" –Tuesday, July 12 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.


In addition to services Friday and Saturday, Maple Hill High School will open its doors on Tuesday, July 12 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. for "Remembering Bob Horan – Always in Our Hearts," an opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate the life of Superintendent Horan.

July 7, 2016

Our Oath of Office A Solemn Promise

FBI Director James Comey once said this:

I James Comey do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

July 4, 2016

The Star Spangled Banner

The flag that inspired the National Anthem:

Francis Scott Key was a gifted amateur poet. Inspired by the sight of the American flag flying over Fort McHenry the morning after the bombardment, he scribbled the initial verse of his song on the back of a letter. Back in Baltimore, he completed the four verses (PDF) and copied them onto a sheet of paper, probably making more than one copy. A local printer issued the new song as a broadside. Shortly afterward, two Baltimore newspapers published it, and by mid-October it had appeared in at least seventeen other papers in cities up and down the East Coast.

July 1, 2016



Check out the calendar!


Look here for the Library's calendar of events.

Advertise the the Schodack SCENE

Jeff Simons Starts as New Superintendent of Schools

The East Greenbush Central School District’s new Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey P. Simons officially starts today.

Mr. Simons, who was appointed on March 2 after an extensive search that began last fall, met with staff members this morning and will be touring each of the schools and surrounding neighborhoods later in the day.

Read more...

June 13, 2016

Block Party

Castleton Public Library
Friday, Jun. 17, 10:00-11:00 a.m. 
Bring your baby, toddler, or preschooler in for group play with wooden blocks, and help develop their skills in early literacy, math, logic, social know-how, and more! Recommended for ages 4 and younger. 
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News Release

MEDIA ADVISORY
Thirty New York Community and Environmental Groups Form United Front to
Demand that Albany Halt the Harm from Fracked Oil and Gas Development

CONTACT: Pramilla Malick: (646) 498-1742/ Ruth Foster: (518) 588-0187
WHO: United Against Fossil Fuels
WHAT: Halt The Harm Press Conference
WHERE: NYS Capitol, Million Dollar Staircase, 3rd Floor
WHEN: Tuesday, June 14th at Noon

A newly united coalition of frontline communities, grassroots groups, environmental
organizations, and concerned citizens will gather to speak out against the harmful
impacts of fracked oil and gas development on New York’s residents and natural
resources, as well as the state's policies which enable that harm. Assemblyman Frank
Skartados (D-Milton) will speak about the importance of the “Pilgrim Pipeline Bill” he
sponsored (A10468/S07979), and prominent actor and activist, James Cromwell, will
also speak. Working together under the banner United Against Fossil Fuels (UAFF), the
coalition demands a statewide halt to fossil fuel development which severely impacts
community and public health and speeds climate change. Specifically, we demand an
immediate halt to construction of the Spectra AIM Pipeline and the CPV Valley Gasfired
Power Plant, and the rejection of permits for dozens of other projects like
Crestwood Gas Storage, the Dominion New Market Pipeline, and the Pilgrim Oil
Pipelines. United in our mission, the coalition intends to build upon the momentum of
the powerful anti-fracking movement until all of New York is free from the devastating
impacts of fossil fuels.