This happened on the other side of the lake.
Wouldn’t Want to Run Into One of These
A really cool short clip (about 3.5 minutes) on how the prehistoric short faced bear differed from today’s grizzly bear and black bear. I saw a black bear once on top of the mountain about 15 years ago. If you’re interested in bears, here’s an interesting clip for you.
[hulu=ra06vuFlOWTX4zsJfKSN5w,LEFT,340,16:10,Prehistoric Bear,AUTOPLAY]
Washington County Budget Drawing Heat
From Saturday’s Post Star:
“The 2009 Washington County budget isn’t pleasing everyone. More than 100 concerned citizens filled the Board of Supervisors chambers on Friday to voice their opinions on the proposed $117.3 million spending plan.
The tentative budget contains an 8-percent hike in the tax levy, a $106,000 cut to the county Sheriff’s Office’s budget and a 50 percent reduction in funding to the Hudson Falls arm of Cornell Cooperative Extension.”
Update – ALERT:
“At the same time, supervisors on the committee backed the elimination of two county-run parks,” .. AT THIS TIME THIS INCLUDES THE WASHINGTON COUNTY BEACH
Saturday Quote
“We’ve uncovered some embarrassing ancestors in the not-too-distant past. Some horse thieves, and some people killed on Saturday nights. One of my relatives, unfortunately, was even in the newspaper business.”
Jimmy Carter
“Adirondacks” – Homer Dodge Martin 1879
Serious Route 4 Crash Caught on Tape
The Post Star has this video which shows a bad crash on Route 4.
Please drive carefully. Route 4 has had a number of serious accidents lately.
Did the Lost Dauphin of France Really Stay in Huletts?
This is a great piece from Adirondack Magazine about rural legends of the Adirondacks. Was there really a Lake George Monster? What was the biggest buck ever shot here? Did Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother live in the Adirondacks? Does Presidential brother, Jeb Bush really own land in the Champlain Valley?
From Gerald Ford’s son to the Lost Dauphin of France, the legends are all spelled out here. It a great read. Perhaps you’ll learn of a legend you never knew existed.
Washington County’s Budget
Some interesting posts regarding Washington County’s budget:
No Salary Increase for Department Chiefs
County Avoids the Nuclear Option
Budget Concerns: Taxes and Tourism
One raises a good point: Why isn’t the County’s Budget Online?
When You’re Out of Money, You Can’t Spend Anything
From the Post Star:
This is pretty unprecedented. The issue becomes what will school districts around NY do; use their reserve accounts in the interim and hit property owners with increased taxes next year or actually get control of their spending. Remember the Whitehall school district spent $2.25 million two years ago on tennis courts and a building addition. Sadly the Whitehall school district has never shown a willingness to control spending.
In case you missed it, the Whitehall School district was recently told by the comptroller’s office that they had $150,000 over the amount that the law says they can have in one of their reserve accounts. They have a bunch of them.
Our Dresden > Their Dresden?
Many people are surprised to learn that there are actually two towns named Dresden in the state of New York. The other Dresden is located on the western shore of Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region. Check out the other town of Dresden here. Our former Town Clerk, Mrs. LeClaire, would say that both towns would occasionally receive correspondence which was intended for the other. Just a fun fact to know if you’re ever on a game show and there’s a category: Towns in NY State.
Think Your Boat is Difficult to Clean?
This is a cool video clip on the Post Star’s website of the Mohican being cleaned for the winter in Ticonderoga. After seeing the Mohican cruise by every day in the summer, it’s kind of fun to see it out of the water and being cleaned for the winter. Summer 2009 can’t get here soon enough.
Fort Ticonderoga
While this video is about 3 months old, I thought it was appropriate to share on Veterans Day. It illustrates what is happening to the surrounding economy when taxes go up and tourism starts to dry up. Fort Ticonderoga is a non-profit corporation but they sustain the museum in large part through visitor patronage. The next time you’re in Huletts in the summer, it’s a great day trip especially if you like history.
Veterans Day
On this special day, we honor all those who defend our country, the true patriots who put their lives on the line to safeguard our freedoms.
 Let Your Christmas Cards & Packages Begin in Huletts
It looks like for the first time in history the U.S. Postal Service will eliminate jobs. Small Post Offices are rated not only by the amount of mail that they disburse, but also by the amount of postage that they sell. While the Postal Service has not indicated that they will close any Post Offices at this time, we encourage you to buy your postage from the Huletts branch. It means much more to them, than some giant suburban branch. So if you send a check to Postmaster, Huletts Landing, you will receive your postage in a few days.
So before you begin your holiday mailings, drop Pam a note and thank her for the wonderful job she does and buy a few Christmas and priority mail stamps from her at the same time.