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Bits of Everything

Couple to Invest Big in Whitehall

The Post Star reports on a couple who are planning some new ventures in Whitehall.

Road Salt is the Problem

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise presents a great article on a new study which says road salt use in the Adirondack Park should be curbed and studied further.

UVM Wins Title, Heads to NCAA Tournament

Congratulations to the University of Vermont’s mens basketball team who defeated Boston University to win the American East Conference and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. They will face Syracuse University in the first round on Friday.

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Ghost Hunters at Fort Ti – Weds Night

I already put this on the calendar, but here’s a friendly reminder that the Ghost Hunters episode filmed at Fort Ticonderoga will air Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. on the Sci-Fi channel.

http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/news/ghost-hunters.htm

Fort Ticonderoga will also be offering Ghost Tours during the months of July and August on most Friday and Saturday nights. This might be fun because they haven’t had night tours in years. Groups of 25 only @ $35 per person.

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Septic Training Course Offered

The Lake George Association (LGA), in conjunction with the Champlain Watershed Improvement Coalition of New York (CWICNY), is sponsoring a septic system training course on March 25, 2010 at the Fort William Henry in Lake George.

The one-day course, titled “Small Scale Wastewater System Design II – Alternative Systems” is designed for professionals in the wastewater field, including engineers, designers, health officials, inspectors and planners.

“We wanted to offer our local professionals an opportunity to receive some high quality training close to home” said Beth Gilles of CWICNY. Participants at the training can earn 7.5 PE or CEO credits, and will gain an understanding of wastewater regulations and guidance, site appraisal and evaluation, and treatment system design elements. The course will provide guidelines for making soil evaluations, site design examples and alternative onsite technologies. The course is being offered as part of the New York Onsite Wastewater Treatment Training Network (OTN) and will be taught by a certified OTN instructor.

“We felt it was very important to encourage as many people as possible to gain up-to-date knowledge and skills in this area since good wastewater design is essential to protecting water quality. Alternative systems are a great way to effectively manage wastewater on sites around Lake George that have tough physical constraints such as small lot sizes or shallow bedrock,” said Emily DeBolt, LGA’s Director of Education.

Cost including meals and printed materials is $40 for municipal employees and $80 for private industry employees; Pre-registration is required and space is limited. For more information or to register, contact Emily DeBolt at the Lake George Association at 518-668-3558 or Beth Gilles at the LCLGRPB at 518-668-5773.

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Biography of Nominee for Lake George Park Comm.

I was able to confirm today that Dr. Dean L. Cook of Ticonderoga was nominated by Governor Paterson to fill a vacancy on the Lake George Park Commission caused by the expiration of the term of Thomas J. Morhouse, for a term which will expire on March 31, 2017.

Dr. Cook’s resume was provided to the Huletts Current:

Born:
August 24, 1944

Education:
Ticonderoga Central School
Graduated 1962

State Univ. of New York at Buffalo
1962-1966, B.A. Biology Major

Seton Hall University
1966-1967, Graduate Biology

Univ. of Pennsylvania
1967-1971, Doctor of Dental Medicine

US Naval Hospital Boston
1971-1972, Oral Surgery Internship

Employment:
United States Navy
Naval Dental Service
Roosevelt Roads P.R.
1972-1975
Discharged 1975 LtCdr

Adirondack Dental Health Associates
Ticonderoga, New York
Private Practice 1975 to Present

Honors:
Bausch & Lomb science award 1966
SUNYAB Dean’s List
OKU National Dental Honor Society 1975
Matthew H. Creyer Society Univ of Pennsylvania
Dental Honor Society 1975

Advocational Memberships:
Adirondack Council – Board Member
High Peaks Audubon Society – President & Board member
Lake George Association – Board member
Lake George Land Conservancy – President & Board member
Adirondack Conservancy
Lake Champlain Committee – Board member

Professional Memberships:
American Dental Association
New York State Dental Society
Fourth District Dental Society
Association of Graduate Dentists

Academic Position:
Assistant Professor of Comprehensive Dentistry
Louisiana State University
New Orleans, La

Dr. Cook’s nomination will now advance to the NY State Senate Finance Committee. No date has been scheduled at this time.

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Committee Moves Lake George Park Commission Nominee Forward

While I had not seen anything about this in the news or heard about a pending nomination, the NY State Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation voted on Tuesday, February 23rd, to move the nomination of Dean Cook to the Lake George Park Commission forward. The next step is for the nomination to be acted upon by the Finance Committee.

The Lake George Land Conservancy lists a Dean L. Cook on their Board of Directors in their Summer 2009 newsletter and Protect the Adirondacks! has pictures of a Dean Cook at their July 11, 2009 membership meetings. While I cannot confirm that this is the same person being considered for the Lake George Park Commission, I note that the name of the person in these publications is the same as the person being nominated.

Update 2/26/2010 8:11 a.m.

The Governor issued this proclamation for an Extraordinary Session to be held on June 27, 2009, where he stated it was his intent to nominate someone to the Lake George Park Commission but I have checked the Lake George Park Commission’s website and have found no press releases on this topic. Who this nominee would replace is unknown to me at this time.

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A Look Back at the Olympics


The Adirondack Museum has a display depicting the bobsled run in the 1932 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid. (Click on the picture to see in full resolution.)

With the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics almost here, I thought this new documentary entitled; “Small Town, Big Dreams: Lake Placid’s Olympic Story”, would be interesting to some. It is airing on PBS stations across the country this week.

You can see the stations and times it is being broadcast here.

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Bits of Everything

APA Loses Big, Must Pay Legal Fees, Who is Responsible?

This is a big story when even the NY Times reports on it. The APA is taking such indefensible and outrageous positions (remember Foster Brook and the “waste” on the bottom of the lake?) that now taxpayers are having to bail them out. It will be interesting to see who is held responsible at the APA for this huge mess.

Bald Eagle Being Nursed Back to Health

A great story appeared recently in the Adirondack Journal about a group of local citizens who are trying to save an injured bald eagle.

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Bits of Everything

APA Considering Delegating New Boathouse Rules to Lake George Park Commission.

The Adirondack Almanack reports that the APA is speaking to the Lake George Park Commission about enforcing their new proposed boathouse rules. The bigger question is why are new rules necessary when this has no bearing on water quality?

Washington County Business

The Post Star was at the most recent meeting of the Washington County Board of Supervisors.

Paul Smith’s New Cell Phone Tower Resembles Tree

Paul Smith’s College, The College of the Adirondacks, just released this video showing off their new cell phone tower. If they can get one, hopefully Hulett’s can get one soon also.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEqkiHf8T1E

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Cell Phone Tower in Firehouse’s Future?

I received a 1st public notice letter from the Adirondack Park Agency today which stated:

The Adirondack Park Agency received an application on December 28, 2009 from AT&T Mobility Corporation for a project proposed in the Town of Dresden, Washington County, on or near County Route 6 …. The tax map number of the property site is: Section 26.8 Block 3 Parcel 18 (The firehouse).

The project is briefly described as follows: installation of a 100 foot stealth monopole with three flush mounted antenna centered at 84 feet in height with room for two additional carriers to be located below. The monopole will be installed behind the new firehouse with equipment to be located inside the firehouse.

This is a very positive development which is a win-win-win for everyone. It’s a great development for anyone who wants to use a cell phone in Huletts, it’s added revenue for the Huletts Volunteer Fire Company, and it’s a huge safety precaution in the event of an emergency. I imagine it would also give cell phone service to a good number of boaters on Lake George. In addition, the pole will be almost completely invisible.

Unfortunately, the Adirondack Park Agency is great at preventing ideas that assist people in living their lives and helping communities thrive. This is a no-brainer, so from this moment on, I will start counting the days from when this application was received until the project is approved. I’ll keep everyone updated.

Redo: Can You Hear Me Now? Not from Huletts

Update 1/10/2010 7:47 a.m.

I was just learned that there is a story about the Huletts Landing cell tower in the January issue of the Lake George Mirror.

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Bridge Remembered


This picture of the recently demolished Lake Champlain Bridge comes from my brother Al’s extensive collection of Adirondack memorabilia. The Champlain monument appears at the bottom of the picture. The road to Ticonderoga would be off of the bottom of the picture.

Now that the Lake Champlain Bridge from Crown Point to Addison Vermont is gone, I thought people might not know that the Harrison Ford, Michelle Pfeiffer movie, What Lies Beneath, which was released back in 2000, was filmed on and near the Crown Point Bridge.

Filming closed the bridge for several days, causing problems for locals on both sides of Lake Champlain. The bridge appears throughout the film. You can learn more about the movie here and I posted the movie trailer below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm4Fw2QElA4

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Bits of Everything

Polar Plungers Get Real Cold

The Post Star reports on this years Polar Plunge in Lake George.

MSNBC Reports on Bridge Demolition (with sound)

Early Footage of an Adirondack Log Drive

The Adirondack Almanack has some great historical video of an Adirondack log drive here.

Hollywood Wants Your Kids to Smoke

This University of California, San Francisco website is devoted to showing how Hollywoood promotes smoking in movies, especially those flicks targeted at kids. It has gotten so noticable that major national health organizations have endorsed an R-rating for future smoking scenes and other voluntary measures to encourage producers to keep kid’s movies smoke free. If you have children, you need to look at this.