The Peru Gazette

Brian Mann reports on National Public Radio

K of C Financial Secretary Donald McBrayer, Pat Holmes of the Peru JCEO and Grand Knight Allen Dixon

By John T. Ryan

St. Augustine’s Council 7273 Grand Knight Allen Dixon and Financial Secretary Donald McBrayer presented $150 of various canned foods to Pat Holmes, Manager of the Peru JCEO office. Holmes expressed his appreciation and said the food is especially needed at this time of year.

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic, fraternal, service organization. Council 7273’s 160 members work together to serve youth, elderly, the sick and those in need. Since July 1st, the Council has donated almost $15,000 to St. Augustine’s Church and various other local programs.

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By Representative Bill Owens

Like many of my Democratic colleagues, I have long supported making the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class permanent while letting the tax cuts for the ultra wealthy expire.  But unlike many in Washington, I have urged leadership of both parties to compromise on this issue.  Finally, after months of gridlock and finger-pointing from both parties, President Obama and Republicans in Congress have reached an agreement to do what is best for the American people – prevent a middle class tax increase on January 1 by agreeing to extend tax rates across all income levels for two years.

I support this compromise because job creation is my top priority.  Although I do not believe that extending tax cuts for the ultra wealthy will create jobs, and I’m concerned that doing so will unnecessarily add to the debt, I believe a two-year extension is a fair compromise and that the overall agreement contains significant job creation measures.  As we continue on the road to recovery, we will be able to revisit the tax rates for the wealthiest Americans when the economy is on stronger footing.

While many of my fellow Democrats believe that this compromise is a giveaway to the rich, nothing could be further from the truth.  The bipartisan agreement forged by President Obama and Congressional Republicans delivers several key victories for American families and small businesses in addition to the extension of current tax rates: Read more »

By Donald McBrayer

The Peru Town Board held its regular meeting on Monday, December 13. Everyone except Councilor Jim Douglass, who was excused, was present.

Meeting actions included:

·    Due to liability issues, the town cannot maintain the School Street sidewalk until the town accepts it. Acceptance of the sidewalk is dependent upon the passing of 3 core-sample tests by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Town Supervisor Peter Glushko informed the board that the sidewalk has passed the first DOT test. It is uncertain how long it will take before for the remaining two tests are completed.

·    Setting a Public Hearing date for the Dog Control/Licensing Law Revision scheduled for Monday, December 27th at 6:45 PM, preceding the regular meeting.

·    W/S Superintendent, Greg Timmons updated the board on progress at the River Road Project. The first 1000 feet of line was completed with minimal interruption to customers. The remaining 2000 feet will be completed in the spring.

·    The Rock Road School House being donated to the town must receive variance approval by the Zoning Board. The proposed subdivision to the original property lines does not meet current setback and road frontage requirements.

·    A “Thank You” from Town Supervisor, Pete Glushko to Kathy & John Flynn, Backporch Band, and the Peru Volunteer Fire Department for the wonderful time everyone had at the Christmas Tree Lighting on December 10th. See slideshow at: http://ryanjohn.zenfolio.com/p473634522/h3ba16460#h3ba16460

A recording of the meeting can be found at:  http://d1091839.domain.com/PeruTown/TBM-12-13-2010.WAV

Minutes for the November 22nd regular meeting were approved and can be found at:   http://www.perutown.com/min10.htm

Reports for all departments were approved and can be found at:
http://www.perutown.com/town.htm

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM.

The Post Standard reports

By John T. Ryan

“I’m trying to pull off a little Christmas miracle.” That’s what Kim Senecal says about her effort to raise money to assist a friend. The friend, Nicole Morse, is an elementary teacher at Peru Central School. Nicole’s husband Jonathan is a patient at Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington where he is being treated for brain cancer. Nicole is traveling from her home just off Mason St. to Burlington each day. Kim would like to raise money so that Nicole could stay in a Burlington hotel at Christmas time. Kim says any extra money will be great because Nicole and Jonathan have had many expenses during the past several months and Jonathan lost his job at Wyeth. The Morse’s have one child, Sadie, who is six-months old. Kim Senecal is Sadie’s daycare provider.

Nicole Morse’s co-workers at Peru Central have been donating sick-leave to Nicole and taking up collections, but this is a chance for the entire community to help this local family in need.

Checks should be made out to Nicole Morse and mailed to Kim Senecal, 376 Salmon River Rd., Plattsburgh, NY 12901. If you have questions please call Kim Senecal at 561-7564.

Cherie LaDuke was the concert soloist

By John T. Ryan

St. Augustine’s Church was filled on Saturday, December 11th as the Keeseville-Peru Ecumencial Choir performed its 45th Annual Christmas Concert. Over 300 people enjoyed the choir’s performance under the direction of Jeanette Woodruff and accompanied by Carol Bachand on the piano, Steve Woodruff on the organ and Zachary Burgess on the snare drum. Selections ranged from “O Come. All Ye Faithful” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” to the very beautiful “There Is No Rose” and “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol.” Highlights included The “Little Drummer Boy” accompanied on the snare drum by Zachery Burgess and Cherie LaDuke’s solo in “Believe.”  Rev. Robert Svenson, Pastor of the Peru Community Church welcomed everyone and recited the Benediction while Rev. Alan Shnob, Pastor of St. Augustine’s Church, delivered the Christmas Message. The choir will perform the concert again tonight at 7:30 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church in Keeseville. Click here for more photos (View as a slideshow to view the largest photos)

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Town Board file photo

AGENDA, TOWN BOARD REGULAR MEETING, December 13 @ 7:00 PM Read more »

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The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports

The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports

Peru VFW Post 309 will be hosting a Kids Christmas Party on Saturday, December 18th between noon and 4 p.m. Santa Claus and Mr. Jingles will be at Post 309 to have fun with the Kids. Past Commander Ron LaDuke is the Committee Chairman with John Mashtare assisting for this event. Ron is looking for kids gift donations, decorations and volunteers to help out. Christmas is for the kids and the smiles make all the hard work worthwhile. VFW Post 309 looks forward to seeing all the happy children and parents.  The VFW wishes everyone a Merry Christmas. The VFW Post is located at 710 Pleasant St., Route 22B. Facebook Page

The Free Press reports

The Press Republican reports

By Donald McBrayer

Many Facebook users make the mistake of using important personal dates, family member & pet names, or even simple combinations like “1234” or “qwerty” as passwords.

Because your Facebook profile is public, someone could silently track you learning a great deal of information. Over the course of a few weeks an average Facebook user will post about his kids, pets, address, schedule, occupation, birthday & anniversary dates, and almost anything in their personal lives. A hacker only needs to collect the names and important numbers in your life and then try logging into your account by typing them in. Lets’ say your dog is named Muffy. And “muffy” also happens to be your password, and you have several posts on Facebook about Muffy: “Muffy needs a bath,” “Muffy chased the cat,” “I bought Muffy a squeak toy!” How long would it take for a hacker to type “muffy” into your password login field?

When creating a password for any computer activity create one that is a combination of letters and numbers not related to anything in your personal life. Also use combinations of upper and lower case letters. If other characters are allowed, use them as well. “DjP4f9!5o&2k” is much harder to guess than “muffy.”

Also, be very careful about what personal information you post to your Facebook wall . . . you never know who’s watching.

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