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The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

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New Mask Mandate Will Not be Enforced

December 10, 2021 By Eastwick Press

by Doug La Rocque

On Friday, December 10, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that mask will be required in all indoor public spaces in New York State, unless a business or venue has a proof of vaccine requirement before entering. The mandate begins on Monday, December 13 and runs through January 15, when it will be reviewed. When issuing the new mandate, Governor Hochul said “ we are entering a time of uncertainty and we could either plateau here or our cases could get out of control. The Governors office issued a statement that says the mandate is aimed at addressing a winter surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, claiming  the number of positive cases since Thanksgiving is up 43% and hospitalizations up 29% over the same time period. Violators could face fines and civil penalties up to a maximum  of $1,000. Under the mandate, local health departments will be in charge of enforcing the requirements.

In Rensselaer County, don’t look for the county health Department to take on the added chore. County Executive Steve McLaughlin’s office has issued the following statement; “This is the wrong direction for the state to be taking, especially given the innumerable orders, policy changes and directives already made during the past two years. This is an overreach and it comes at a time when residents and businesses are already struggling.”

“Residents are already taking common-sense precautions and businesses, organizations and other establishments have been going above and beyond to keep the public and customers safe. Over 80 percent of state residents have already been fully vaccinated.”

“The county Health Department has been providing a seven-day-a-week, round-the-clock response to the pandemic for nearly two years. They are working on contact tracing, immunization clinics and many other duties and do not have the time or resources to deal with yet another state mandate.”

“Rensselaer County will not utilize resources to enforce this new state mandate. If the state wants to enforce the mandate, the state will need to utilize state resources for those actions.”

The County’s Public Health Director Mary Fran Wachusas issued a response to the new regulations as well;

“We are impressed that many residents have already gotten fully vaccinated and are taking reasonable and common-sense steps to deal with the pandemic. Businesses and organizations are also working to keep the public safe and we appreciate the patience and cooperation of the public as we are dealing with the expected and seasonal increase in cases.”

“Our Health Department is already dealing with an increase in contact tracing of cases, conducting three vaccination clinics each week and also handling the many other duties and responsibilities for our department. We simply do not have the staff to deal with the latest mandate by the state or enforcement of the mandate. We will remain focused on our current duties.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized

New Lebanon Board Responds To Veteran Tax Exemption

December 9, 2021 By Eastwick Press

by Chris Tergliafera

At the December 8 regular meeting of the New Lebanon Central School Board of Education, the board read a prepared statement answering the over 140 district residents who wrote letters asking them to reconsider the their stance and adopt the exemption. The Board stated that while they have the upmost respect for those who have served, they would not discuss the matter further citing the funds for such an exemption would come out of the pockets of others in the community. Read the full story on this and other matters discussed at the meeting in next week’s Eastwick Press.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Poestenkill Public Availability Sessions

December 9, 2021 By Eastwick Press

by Chris Tergliafera

On December 8, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Department of Health (DOH), the Rensselaer County Department of Health (RCDOH) and representatives from the Town of Poestenkill held two public availability sessions in the Algonquin Middle School cafeteria. The purpose of which was to inform the residents of finding, and plans going forward, in the ongoing PFAS contamination investigation. Those attending could go to one of five stations set up around the cafeteria, to find out information on various topics of concern regarding the contamination. Find out more in the full article next week in the Eastwick Press.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

New Water Source Announced For Hoosick Falls

December 3, 2021 By Eastwick Press

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has released their decision on how to provide a new permanent source of clean drinking water for the Village of Hoosick Falls. That decision calls for:

 Developing two new groundwater supply wells. Existing test wells south of Hoosick Falls will be converted to production wells; 

  • Retaining one existing village well. Redundancy is required in the case of an outage of the primary wells;
  • Constructing a water transmission line from the new wells to the village water treatment plant along public rights of way;
  • Continued operation of the public water supply treatment plant to remove naturally occurring elements, and ensure disinfection and distribution to meet applicable water supply requirements; and
  • Retaining the existing GAC treatment system to ensure removal of ambient organic compounds.

The two news well sites are on land off NYS Route 22 South of the Village, owned by Jeff Wysocki and Jerry LaCroix.

A full report and reaction to the decision will follow.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

December 2, 2021 By Eastwick Press

https://eastwickpress.com/news/2021/12/54774/

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Poestenkill • Latest PFOA Test Results

November 25, 2021 By Eastwick Press

Submitted by the Rensselaer County Health Department

A sixth round of sampling of properties in Poestenkill for PFOA has been concluded, but no new properties were found to have levels of PFOA above the state-permitted levels, county officials announced on Wednesday, November 24.

The results were finalized Tuesday and prepared for public release. The sixth round of testing results was announced as testing is continuing on additional properties in Poestenkill on a voluntary basis by both the county and the state.

Twenty properties were sampled during the sixth round of testing. Samples were largely conducted from sites located to the west of Algonquin Middle School. The twenty sites surveyed registered samples that show [Read more…] about Poestenkill • Latest PFOA Test Results

Filed Under: Poestenkill, Uncategorized

Hoosick Falls Holiday Time Is Here

November 23, 2021 By Eastwick Press

The Village of Hoosick Falls and Hoosick Rising are hosting the Hoosick Community Christmas Tree Lighting on Friday, November 26 beginning at 5:30 pm at the gazebo in Wood Park.

Come and sing along to Christmas carols with Dave Sutton and enjoy a visit from Santa powered by JC Tractor.

Hoosick Rising is holding a Hoosick Holiday Lights Contest. Prize Packages will be awarded to the best

You must be logged in to view this article.

Filed Under: Hoosick Falls, Member Exclusive, Uncategorized

Veterans Dinner a Huge Success in Petersburgh

November 19, 2021 By Eastwick Press

Submitted by Mary Lou Walters

The Veterans Day Dinner at the Petersburgh Veterans Memorial Center was a huge success. The music by Karen Webster, Leslie Green, Martha VonSchilligen and David McNally was amazing. The presentation done by Michael Holms was of a professional quality and very touching. He honored our Vietnam Veterans to a degree that had not been seen by many before. Folks think he should go on the road with it.

Despite the cost of food, folks did not skimp on what they brought, either in quality or quantity. There was a huge variety of high quality entrees and desserts. It felt wonderful to come together as a scarred community for the healing and comfort that took place that evening.

[Read more…] about Veterans Dinner a Huge Success in Petersburgh

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Luke and Make-A-Wish Team Up Again

November 4, 2021 By Eastwick Press

For many years now Hoosick Falls Central School student Luke Hoag has spearheaded a Letter to Santa campaign in conjunction with the Macy’s Department Stores. For each letter Luke delivered to Macy’s at the Colonie Center Shopping Mall, Macy’s made a $2 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This has resulted in tens of thousands of dollars raised each year.

Luke kicked off his 2021 campaign at the school this past week, with a few COVID-19 wrinkles. In years past, people have delivered mailbags full of letters to the school, which were then delivered to the Colonie store. This year’s, it will be a virtual event, no letters will be accepted at the school building. A direct link has been set up on the Macy’s website. Macy’s will donate one dollar for each letter that is received, up to $1 million.

[Read more…] about Luke and Make-A-Wish Team Up Again

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Grafton Food Giveaway

October 29, 2021 By Eastwick Press

November 3 2021
beginning at 9:30 am
at Grafton Lakes State Park

Come receive food, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other items while supplies last.
[Read more…] about Grafton Food Giveaway

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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