The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

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New Firehouse Proposed in New Lebanon

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by Chris Tergliafera
At the May 10 regular meeting of the New Lebanon Town Council, Lebanon Valley Protective Association (LVPA) president Stephen Houghtling discussed the proposed plan for a new firehouse. Under the plan the LVPA would become centralized in one building instead of three. A local family has offered to match donations made for the new firehouse, dollar for dollar, until the end of 2022, up to an amount of [Read more…] about New Firehouse Proposed in New Lebanon

Redistricting Opens Up Many Opportunities

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by Doug La Rocque
Both the NYS Court of Appeals (the State’s highest court) and a Federal Appeals court recently held that the new congressional and State Senate districts, as redrawn by the State Legislature, were in fact gerrymandered in favor of the Democratic party, and ordered a Special Master to redraw those lines. On Monday, May 16, those new districts were revealed and it set off a flurry of activity. One of the largest redraws involved Rensselaer County’s congressional representation. Currently, most of the County falls within the 19th Congressional District, which is occupied by Representative Antonio Delgado, while the Troy area is in the 20th District, represented by long time incumbent Paul Tonko. Now, all of Rensselaer County moves into the 20th district. It would encompass the cities of Albany and Schenectady, but not Amsterdam, Congressman Tonko’s place of residence. [Read more…] about Redistricting Opens Up Many Opportunities

Contamination Site Scheduled for Cleanup in Hoosick Falls

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by Doug La Rocque
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that Oak-Mitsui Technologies LLC (Oak), the owner of the property, will be executing the environmental cleanup work at the 80 First Street Site in the Village of Hoosick Falls. Their press release says the environmental cleanup action will be performed as an Interim Remedial Measure (IRM) under NY’s State Superfund Program and the provisions of an Order on Consent established between Oak and DEC. An IRM is a cleanup activity that may be implemented when the source of contamination or exposure pathway can be effectively addressed in the short term. The objective of this IRM is to prevent contact with residual levels of contamination in the soil.

Highlights and Key Components of the IRM: 

• Installation of a 2 foot thick cover system that consists of a 6 inch gravel underdrain placed directly over existing asphalt or concrete foundations and 18 inches of soil cover over the gravel underdrain.  [Read more…] about Contamination Site Scheduled for Cleanup in Hoosick Falls

New Tamarac Elementary Principal

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The Brunswick (Brittonkill) Central School District is pleased to announce that Kelly Onorato has been named the new principal of Tamarac Elementary School. Mrs. Onorato, a resident of Brunswick, is currently the assistant principal at Tamarac Elementary. She replaces Mr. Richard Pogue, who is retiring after 16 years in the District. Mrs. Onorato is bringing to the position 17 years experience in education. Kelly provided services to students in grades K-12 as a speech-language pathologist during her first 10 years in education. Kelly has also served as a member of the District Technology Committee and coached the Tamarac Girls Junior Varsity Soccer Team in the Fall of 2008.  [Read more…] about New Tamarac Elementary Principal

Traffic Concerns Linger at Aldi Site in Brunswick

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by Doug La Rocque
David Leon’s representatives, MJ Engineering, were back before the Brunswick Planning Board on Thursday evening, May 12, with a new rendering of what the proposed addition of an Aroma Joe’s Coffee Drive Thru would look like. The problem the Planners have is that it is not just drive thru but has a walk up window as well. Several members of the Board voiced their concern about pedestrians crossing an increased traffic flow, particularly since the rendering did not show any crosswalks or other protective features leading to that walk up window. [Read more…] about Traffic Concerns Linger at Aldi Site in Brunswick

New Jobs for the Green Economy

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The Town of New Lebanon, NY is mapping out the new jobs being created by the green economy. On May 6, students from Cornell’s Brooks School of Public Policy presented their analysis of 11 emerging jobs that are relevant to New Lebanon. Working with regional educational institutions and businesses, the team identified training pathways and potential salaries. The recommended jobs include solar panel and heat pump installation, electric vehicle repair, as well as hydrogen cell engineer and wind turbine service technician. The list reflects the growing footprint of green technology businesses around the Capital Region. [Read more…] about New Jobs for the Green Economy

DWI Victims Memorialized

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Poestenkill Victim Latest Name on the List

by Doug La Rocque
Families of those killed by a drunk driver, County and local officials gathered at the Rensselaer County DWI  Memorial Tuesday, April 26, to remember those whose names are on the memorial wall and to plead with people not to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly conducted the yearly ceremony reminding all it is important to share our concerns about people’s awareness of the dangers of drunk driving and touched on another topic as well: marijuana. She noted the recent legalization of marijuana has opened a new door for law enforcement with the ramifications of smoking and driving still undefined. Unlike alcohol use, which can be measured with a breathalyzer, there is no such yardstick for marijuana use. She again touched on the awareness factor, pointing to the sign in front of the speaker’s podium that said “If you feel different you drive different.”

Ms. Donnelly remarked about the horrific accident in Poestenkill last Thursday night that took the life of a local man and saw the driver of the second vehicle charged with Driving While Intoxicated. Please see the related story on page 4.

County Executive Steve McLaughlin also read a proclamation marking the annual event, held every year since the memorial was dedicated on September 8 of 2000. The Memorial is located on a strip of land on Congress Street in Troy, opposite Prospect Park, the very site where a popular Troy teenage girl was struck and killed by a drunk driver. [Read more…] about DWI Victims Memorialized