Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper
Hoosick Falls Girls Basketball
by Jeffrey Bernstein
Meg Barber, now the head coach at NYU, is one of the best basketball players to come out of Hoosick Falls High School. The 1998 graduate’s 1,643 career points were the most scored by a female Panther when she left the program. Barber held that record until 2020, when Logan Thayne, now playing for SUNY Cobleskill, surpassed that mark with 1,723 points (547 of those during her senior year).
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Chronic Source of Pollution in Mohawk and Hudson Rivers: Landfill Leachate
Drinking Water for 19 Communities Along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers are at Risk from Discharges of Contaminated Liquid Waste
by the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers Leachate Collaborative
Based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIL), a major new report “The Threat of Landfill Leachate to Drinking Water in the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers” ( leachateloophole.org/report/ ) reveals regulatory gaps in the way the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is addressing the problem. Called the “Leachate Loophole” the failure to regulate this liquid waste allows the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers - including areas used as drinking water supplies - to be routinely polluted by landfill leachate.
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Submitted by HFCSD Communications
Dear Hoosick Falls Community and Beyond,
Christmas is one of the happiest times of the year. However, for some families, it can be very stressful. The Hoosick Falls Central School (HFCS) Philip Leonard Chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) is dedicated to helping those in need within our community. Members of the NHS recently shopped for local families of K-12 students in our district. These students needed winter clothing such as pajamas, underwear, hats, mittens, boots, snow pants, winter coats, shoes, and toiletries. On December 14th, the NHS fulfilled the community’s “Christmas Wish” by hosting an event for families to “shop” from our inventory of supplies, all for free. Each family was allowed to pick out four clothing items per student in their household along with toiletries. In this community service event, the National Honor Society’s goal is to help as many families as possible by providing children a “Christmas Wish” of important needs vs. wants. This year our organization provided “Christmas Wishes” to over 100 students from more than 40 families.
To provide this necessary community service event, NHS members raise money to purchase clothing and toiletries.
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Submitted by Joyce Brewer
Maple Grove Cemetery in Hoosick Falls hosted its annual Wreaths Across America event on Saturday, December 14th. This national event, observed at over 4,500 sites across the country, serves to remember, honor, and teach the significance of those who served in the military. This year’s theme was “Serve with Purpose.”
During the ceremony, 103 wreaths were laid to honor the 103 men from the community who gave their lives in service to our country. A special wreath was placed on the grave of Harris Hawthorn, a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient.
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The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County 4-H program would like to announce year end 2024 equine awards. Thank you to the many members and volunteers that made 2024 events possible. Year end 2024 awards are as follows.
Year End 4-H High Point Riders – Novice Champion Audrey Kondak of Valley Falls, Alice Bourdeau of Averill Park, and Madyson Bull of Melrose were Reserve Champions. Ariana Severance of Melrose and Emmeline Heer of Troy were Junior Champion and Reserve Champion respectively. The Senior Champion was Ava Severance of Melrose and Allie Manchester of Stephentown was Reserve Champion.
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Provides Residents Information on How to Identify and Eliminate Egg Masses • +Urges the Public to Report Sightings, Travelers to Inspect Vehicles
Submitted by the New York State Dept. of Agriculture
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets today announced new findings of the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) in additional locations across New York State. SLF is an invasive, non-native insect that feeds on more than 100 plant species, including tree-of-heaven, and plants and crops, such as grapes, that are critical to New York’s agricultural economy. The Department is now urging residents of a number of upstate counties, including Albany, Schenectady, Ontario, and Seneca counties, to report any additional sightings and scrape egg masses, which will help inspectors to assess impacted areas and slow the spread of SLF in New York State.
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Submitted by Hoosick Falls Central School Communications
The HFCS PTA is hosting a free event that will be fun for the whole family — Winterfest! This year's Winterfest will take place on Saturday, December 14th, from 2 to 6 pm at the HFCS Elementary School gym and cafeteria. Winter-themed activities will be offered such as kids' bingo, cookie decorating, a hot cocoa bar, and a Cake Walk where kids and families can win tasty cakes or baked goods. Nearly a dozen local vendors are signed up to attend and sell their specialty items such as paintings, handcrafted cutting boards, jewelry, ornaments, candles, and more. The PTA has collected fun items from local businesses for a basket raffle and will run a 50/50 raffle. Local photographer Vanessa Lewis will take free pictures with Santa and children will be offered goodie bags to take home, complete with reindeer food! Anyone in the community is welcome to attend this free family event. The HFCS PTA would like to thank all the generous sponsors who have contributed to this event.
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From the Office of County Executive Steve McLaughlin
Rensselaer County resident and taxpayers will see a seventh consecutive property tax rate reduction in 2025 thanks to a county budget approved on Wednesday, County Executive Steve McLaughlin announced.
The spending plan for next year approved by the County Legislature includes a county property tax rate reduction of 8 percent while also supporting service improvements and maintaining the county’s solid financial foundation.
“We are proud to again deliver a county property tax rate decrease and save residents and taxpayers more of their hard-earned money. Rensselaer County is becoming recognized as a leader across the state in reducing property taxes and this budget continues that progress,” said McLaughlin.
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Berlin Elementary School
For the last 25 years, first-grade teacher Mrs. Tracie Heinrichs has been supporting the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society in Menands and is hosting the pet drive again this year, collecting donations of food and supplies for animals in need. Over the holiday break, Ms. Heinrichs will deliver the supplies to the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society.
At the Character Education Assembly on December 6th, the BES Mountaineers exhibited compassion and empathy, December's character traits, by starting the annual pet drive for the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society in Menands.
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by Denise Wright The March 13th Brunswick Town Board meeting was filled with conversation and resulted in the passing of two resolutions. During the Building and Codes report, 25 building property inspections and 22 follow-up complaints were reported for the month of February. The State Uniform Code Administration Compliance Report has been prepared. The historian […]
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by Denise Wright The Stephentown Board’s St. Patrick’s Day meeting began with a moment of silence to honor former town board member Gerry Robinson. Robinson focused on “improving local service opportunities, protecting Stephentown’s unique rural environment, and increasing local jobs and amenities by encouraging economic development appropriate to the size, atmosphere, and well-being of our […]
Submitted by BCSD Communications The Berlin Central School District Board of Education selected Mr. Kenneth Rizzo to be its next superintendent of schools, effective July 1st. Mr. Rizzo was unanimously appointed by the board at its meeting on March 6th. You must be logged in to view this article.
Hoosick Falls CSD Indoor Track Submitted by HFCSD Communications The Wildcats put forth a great effort at the New York State Indoor Track Championships on March 8th. The girls 4×400, consisting of Emma Waugh, Mihaly Blake, Ava Salvsevold, and Erin Conety, had a huge upset in their race. Going in as the underdogs, the girls […]
Brunswick CSD Submitted by Brunswick CSD Communications Brunswick CSD is proud to announce its winter Scholar Athlete sports teams for the 2024-2025 season. The school fielded seven varsity teams, including Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, Boys Wrestling, Competitive Cheerleading, Unified Bowling, Boys Indoor Track, and Girls Indoor Track. In addition to the exciting lineup of winter […]