Honorifics

LOCAL HERO. A GreeneLander was honored this morning with the title Hudson Valley Hero. The title was conferred by leaders of Scenic Hudson, flanked by leaders of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission and the New York State Parks Commission. It took place at an outdoor site down in Highland NY in conjunction with ceremonial dedication of the new Franny Reese State Park. Receiving the hero’s mantle was Hudson (his real first name) Talbott. He was so honored in tribute to the book that he wrote and illustrated, River of Dreams, whose publication coincided with our Hudson-Champlain-Fulton Quadricentennial observances and gave rise to a musical show performed up and down the Valley by GreeneLand school kids. The book and the show, however, are not the sum of Mr Talbott’s Hudsonian heroics. There’s also his recent instigation and promotion of the recently unveiled Wall of History paintings on the warehouse at Historic Catskill Point. Plus active participation in the revival of downtown Catskill, in the revival of Catskill’s community center, and in the governance of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.

ALSO RECOGNIZED: GreeneLand’s Mountaintop Arboretum, with top rank in Hudson Valley magazine’s list of “Fun Places You Didn’t Know About”; with the cover picture in the I Love NY guide to this region; and with improvement money from the county’s Soil and Water Conservation District.

JOBS. The rate of unemployment in GreeneLand, according to State Labor Department figures, went up a bit in September, to 8.4 per cent of the worker pool. That is an increase (“gain” would not be the apt term) over August’s 8.0% and over September 2008’s 5.9%. The job picture here is bleaker than in neighboring counties: Albany at 7.1%, Columbia at 7.7%, Ulster at 8.1%. It’s brighter, however, than the nation-wide figure (9.5%) and the State-wide figure (8.8%).

FUELING AROUND. In GreeneLand filling stations late this week, the low price for a gallon of regular gasoline was around $2.58. That is above the United States average, the East Coast, the Gulf Coast and the new York City averages ($2.49, $2.41, $2.32, $2.48), but slightly below the State-wide average ($2.64). It also is higher than in neighboring Saugerties ($2.49 up), Hudson ($2.51 up) and Albany ($2.52). Maybe the small change in composition of the county legislature that will occur at November 3’s elections will bring a more effective push against high fuel prices here.

RECOVERING? A local enterpriser, who runs a specialty store for home improvements, recalls that business in the first quarter of this year (January through Mach) was 42 per cent below the same quarter of 2008. But that was the bottom. Trade has picked up since then, to the point that by the end of the year, he expects a drop of no more than 10 per cent. Is that a representative story? In the meantime, we hear reports that the pace of real estate transactions in the past three months has picked up. That could be another sign of recovery.

REPORTING? Riders Fair Well Individually.

Suspicious Briefcase Brings Out Bomb Squad.

Hunter Mountain has only served to appease the populace of the world for a mere half century. But let’s not make mole hills out of mountains.

TV Pilots Shot in R.I Await Word of Fate.

ON THIS DATE. 1950 – Bill Grimes of the Green Bay Packers gains 167 yards on 10 carries in a 44-31 loss to the New York Yankees....

Last year’s budget welcomes a 10.5 percent increase.

Coxsackie residents gathered...at the Stacy Road site to break ground at the recently overturned community garden....

Christopher Agnello-Daly is suspected of stealing from Wal-Mart.a multitude of items including raving blade cartridges.