The Peru Gazette

Click here for the Syracuse.com story 

The Family Court of the State of New York was established to take action in the lives of children, parents, and spouses. Family Court has jurisdiction in such areas as abuse or neglect, adoption, child and/or spousal support, custody and visitation, domestic violence, foster care, guardianship, juvenile delinquency, paternity, and persons in need of supervision (PINS).

Amy Asadourian Senecal and Hilary Rogers seek the Clinton County Family Court Judge position. Asadourian Senecal is running under the Democratic and Working Families Party lines. Hilary Rogers is running under the Republican and Conservative Party lines.  The Peru Gazette posed the same two questions to each candidate.  (Please Share) 

Amy Asadourian Senecal

1. Summarize your educational background, primary employment, a little about your family, and past community and professional involvement.

       I was raised in Plattsburgh, New York, one of three daughters of JoAnne and Ara Asadourian. After graduating from Plattsburgh High School in 1984, I graduated from Williams College in 1988 and Boston University School of Law in 1991.   I was admitted to practice law in 1992; and, am currently the Magistrate hearings support and paternity cases in Clinton County Family Court.  

      My husband, Tim Senecal, and I were married in 1994 and we have two adult children; Kelsey and Mitch Senecal.   Tim, an MAI graduate, has been employed with Diebold for thirty-six years and works in banks and credit unions throughout the north country.   We raised our family in Plattsburgh, with the kids having the fortune of being surrounded by grandparents and extended family. Both Kelsey and Mitch graduated from Plattsburgh High School and both have now from college.  Kelsey lives in Detroit, MI and works for the Detroit Lions; and Mitch is a physical education teacher working and coaching locally. 

      After graduating from law school, I returned to Plattsburgh and joined the law firm of Asadourian & Johnston, PC where I remained for nine years.  During my time at the firm I practiced a variety of areas of law including a concentration in family law. 

     In 2001, I accepted a position as the Court Attorney in Clinton County Family Court, a position I held for over eighteen years. In 2019, I  was appointed as a Magistrate in Family Court, and continue in that position today hearing and determining  paternity and support cases.  

       In addition to being a long-standing member of the Rotary Club of Plattsburgh (Plattsburgh Noon Rotary), my community involvement  includes having served on the board of directors at BHSN, Mountain Lake PBS, the Plattsburgh YMCA and CVPH Medical Center; as well as, volunteering with the PHS Booster Club.

2. What unique qualities or experience do you possess that would enable you to excel as a Family Court judge? 

     In my capacity as the Court Attorney in Clinton County Family Court I was involved extensively in every aspect of every type of case heard in Family Court.   I was a member of the planning committee for the establishment of the Clinton County Family Treatment Court and continued as a team member throughout my tenure as the Court Attorney; and, I was also on the planning team for the Clinton County Integrated Domestic Violence Court.   During my almost two decades as the Court Attorney,  amongst my other responsibilities, I conferenced and facilitated resolutions in thousands of the cases heard in Clinton County Family Court.   As a Magistrate I have settled or determined thousands more.    

        Ultimately, in the vast majority cases heard in Family Court, the issue before the Family Court Judge is determining what is in the best interests of the children who are impacted by the Judge’s decision.  I would ask the voters to consider my experience and knowledge gained over thirty years devoted to family law as they decide who to vote for as their next Clinton County Family Court Judge.  

Hilary Rogers 

1. Summarize your educational background, primary employment, a little about your family and past community and professional involvement

Education: Juris Doctor (Albany Law School); Bachelor of Science in Human Development (Binghamton University)

Primary Employment: I am currently the Chief Assistant Public Defender for Clinton County, where I represent individuals who are charged with crimes and supervise a staff of fifteen, including attorneys, investigators and support staff.

I have been married to my husband, Jesse, for thirteen years. We have two daughters, ages 9 and 11. My parents are Mary Jane and Larry Stanley from Keeseville.

Past and Current Community/Professional Involvement: Committee on Character and Fitness, Appellate Division: 3rd Dept.; Clinton County Imminent Risk Committee: Governor’s E 203 Oversight Committee Chair (City of Plattsburgh); Public Safety Review Panel (City of Plattsburgh); NYS Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Clinton County Bar Association; Zonta Club of the Adirondacks; Saranac Modified Softball coach; local community youth sports coach. 

2. What unique qualities or experience do you possess that would enable you to excel as a Family Court judge?

I have an extensive record of helping children, having worked as a prosecutor handling crimes against children and as an Attorney for the Child in Family Court. As a trial attorney, I have first-hand experience working with and advocating for families, which has given me the necessary compassion and temperament to be your next Family Court Judge. As the only candidate that has served in multiple capacities in the judicial system, I have an understanding of how families outside the courtroom are affected by decisions made within. I am committed to running the courtroom in an efficient and compassionate manner to minimize the stress and trauma for the children and parents and reduce instability to the family environment. I will bring compassion, fairness and respect to the Family Court.

The Peru School Class of 2025 will host a craft fair on November 11th from 9 AM – 3 PM in the Intermediate Gym.  The holiday Nighthawk will be available for free photos from 11 AM -1 PM. You can visit the event online for a list of vendors and sample product photos:   http://www.facebook.com/events/2707430996077442.  A bake sale will be held and food will be available for purchase. The Junior Class hopes to see you there!

Three of her teammates helped revive her at practice in late September

Click here for the MYNBC5 story 

Area is one of 13 identified by East Branch Restoration Plan

Click here for the Sun Community News 

Oven Baked Chicken
Rice/Gravy
Salad
Dessert

Served take-out only, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., at St. Augustine’s Parish Center, 3030 Maini St., Peru, NY 12972

All are Welcome!

Nurse-led effort beautifies stretch of Idaho Avenue, removes potential safety hazards 

PLATTSBURGH, NY (10/12/2023) – Employees at The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) are volunteering their time to clean up a 1.4-mile stretch of Idaho Avenue beginning at 10 a.m. this Sunday, October 15.

The effort is part of a sponsorship of the Town of Plattsburgh’s Adopt-a-Highway program. This past May, the group held its first cleanup, picking up enough garbage to fill up several large bags that the town then disposed of. In addition to beautification, the team can help keep the area safe by removing potential safety hazards like plastic bags that can clog drains and cause chemicals to seep into water supplies with highway storm run-off. Trash can catch fire or block a motorist’s view if caught in the wind. And discarded containers may become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that spread harmful diseases if they are not picked up.

The cleanups, which will continue over the next two years, are spearheaded by nurses on the Progressive Care team at CVPH.

“We come to work every day to provide the care our patients need, and that care extends into the community,” CVPH Progressive Care Assistant Nurse Manager Katie Morrow, BS, RN-BC, PCCN, CMSRN offers. “We’re all proud of where we live and work and want to do what we can to make this place we call home even better.”

Participants will wear the required safety gear and use trash-collecting materials the town provides. Safety information will also be provided to everyone taking part in the cleanup. The Town of Plattsburgh’s Highway Department will pick up the collected garbage.

The CVPH Progressive Care team’s Adopt-a-Highway agreement is one of more than 2,400 in place across New York State, covering approximately 5,000 miles.

AGENDA – Call Meeting to Order, Pledge of Allegiance, Roll Call

4. MOTION/DISCUSSION:  To Accept Reports from all Departments: (Water/Sewer/Valcour; Highway; Town Clerk; Dog Control; Youth Department; Code/Zoning; Supervisor’s Report; Court; Website; JCEO; and Banking Reports) 

5. MOTION:  Approval of Minutes for the Regular Meeting of September 25 and the Public Hearing of October 4, 2023.

6. Community Input. 

7. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  File Local Law #1 of 2023 for Flood Damage Protection. 

8. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Purchase of Property Near Sewer Plant.

9. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION: Contract with AES, Northeast for the New Water Source Proposal.

10. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Change Zoning on a Portion of Davey Drive to Neighborhood-Commercial.

11. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Hire Telling & Hillman, PC for Single Audit for the 2021 Fiscal Year.

12. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  To Prepay Jointa Lime Company to Allow CHIPS 2023 Paperwork to be submitted before the November 3, 2023, Deadline for Payment in 2023.

13. DISCUSSION:  Other Business. 

14. DISCUSSION:  Public Comments on Agenda Items Only.

15. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Pay Bills – October 2023

16. MOTION:  Adjourn to Executive Session.

17. MOTION:  Return from Executive Session. 

18. MOTION:     Adjourn.

The Town of Peru lifted the “Conserve Water Order” this afternoon – October 12, 2023.  

1. Call Meeting to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Roll Call

4. MOTION/DISCUSSION:  To Accept Reports from all Departments: (Water/Sewer/Valcour; Highway; Town Clerk; Dog Control; Youth Department; Code/Zoning; Supervisor’s Report; Court; Website; JCEO; and Banking Reports) 

5. MOTION:  Approval of Minutes for the Regular Meeting of September 25 and the                                     Public Hearing of October 4, 2023.

6. Community Input. 

7. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  File Local Law #1 of 2023 for Flood Damage Protection. 

8. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Purchase of Property Near Sewer Plant.

9. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION: Contract with AES, Northeast for the New Water Source Proposal.

10. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Change Zoning on a Portion of Davey Drive to Neighborhood-Commercial.

11. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Hire Telling & Hillman, PC for Single Audit for 2021 Fiscal Year.

12. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  To Prepay Jointa Lime Company to Allow CHIPS 2023 Paperwork to be Submitted before the November 3, 2023 Deadline for Payment in 2023.

13. DISCUSSION:  Other Business.

14. DISCUSSION:  Public Comments on Agenda Items Only.

15. RESOLUTION/DISCUSSION:  Pay Bills – October 2023

16. MOTION:  Adjourn to Executive Session.

17. MOTION:  Return from Executive Session. 

18. MOTION:     Adjourn.

Town of Keene  – Essex County
Wilderness Rescue: On Oct. 4 at 8:08 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call about a beacon device activated to communicate a diabetic emergency. The 35-year-old from Minnesota self-administered insulin but could not test his blood sugar. At 11 p.m., Forest Rangers and a Wilmington/Keene Valley Paramedic reached the subject between Basin Mountain and Little Haystack. Rescuers helped the subject and their hiking partner back to their vehicles. When they arrived at 12:20 a.m., the patient’s blood sugar was back to a normal level.

Town of North Elba – Essex County
Wilderness Rescue: On Oct. 7 at 4 p.m., eight Forest Rangers responded to a report of three hikers stranded behind high water at Indian Falls. The hikers from Pennsylvania were descending Street Mountain when they encountered the water. Rangers used an inflatable rescue boat to pull the hikers safely across before helping them to their vehicles. Resources were clear at 6:18 p.m.

Town of Long Lake – Hamilton County
Wilderness Search: On Oct. 8 at 5:35 p.m., Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from 12 hikers lost on Owls Head Mountain. The group hiked a hunters’ trail into a beaver pond but veered off the trail on the way back. The hikers, who range in age from 14 to 75, had minimal clothing layers and food and did not have any headlamps. Dispatch identified the coordinates that put the group a couple of hundred yards east of the trail. Forest Rangers Curcio and Sabo hiked two miles, reached the group at 8:45 p.m., provided extra clothing and headlamps, and safely walked them to the trail and their vehicles. Resources were clear at midnight.

Town of North Elba Rescue

Rangers find lost Hamilton County hikers

Community calling for more discussions to find a solution that helps everyone

Click here for the MYNBC5 story 

RemasterDirector_1a5c03258

Champlain Area Trails (CATS), an accredited land trust, hosted 15 volunteers from as far as Georgia, Virginia, and Illinois during the first week of October to improve trails at the SUNY Plattsburgh’s Twin Valley Outdoor Education Center in Essex/Lewis, New York. The volunteers participated through the American Hiking Society’s Volunteer Vacation program, which provides all-inclusive trips for volunteers to help maintain and build trails.

For many, this was their second or third time volunteering with CATS through the program. “The teamwork and fall colors of the Adirondacks keep bringing me back,” said Anthony Quinn, a volunteer from Vermont. “CATS’ mission to connect people with nature and promote recreation is inspiring.”

Since 2009, CATS has created 78 miles of trails, protected 983 acres of land, and hosted hundreds of hikes, outdoor education events, and volunteer activities. The organization attracts thousands of visitors each year to experience the natural beauty of the Champlain Valley.

“We are grateful for the dedication of volunteers who travel from near and far to help improve our trails and keep them safe, accessible, and enjoyable for all,” said Chris Maron, Executive Director at CATS. “Their work is instrumental in helping us achieve our mission of making trails, saving land, connecting people with nature, and promoting economic vitality in the Champlain Valley.”

The volunteers worked for a week at Twin Valleys, clearing brush, removing fallen branches, creating a new connector trail at Whipple Mountain, and beginning a trail going to a viewpoint on Payne Mountain. In addition to the trail work, the volunteers enjoyed the area’s scenic vistas, fall foliage, and outdoor recreational opportunities that CATS works to protect and promote access to.

“The Adirondacks in the fall are stunning,” said Dan Greenberg, a first-time volunteer from Raleigh, North Carolina. “Knowing I’m helping to maintain access to this natural beauty for others to enjoy makes the trip especially rewarding.”

CATS hosts volunteer activities, public hikes, outdoor education programs, and special events encouraging community members and visitors to enjoy the Champlain Valley’s forests, fields, and scenic vistas. Engaging their participation helps support its work to provide healthy outdoor recreation in the Champlain Valley. You can visit CATS’ calendar of events and support its mission of protecting land and making trails by visiting champlainareatrails.com

The public is invited to this free event

Click here for the Sun Community News story 

the townhouses will be rented to families who make at or below 80 percent of the county’s median income, which is about $80,000 a year.

Click here for the NCPR story

PLATTSBURGH, NY (10/11/2023) – A Nurse who provided compassion and comfort to the grieving family of a North Country icon has been honored as the first recipient of The DAISY Nurse Leader Award at The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH). Lee-Ann LaBombard, RN, was presented the award recently during a surprise ceremony with her colleagues at the hospital.

LaBombard was nominated by Ashley Pray, a granddaughter of the late North Country trailblazer and founder of Rulfs Orchard in Peru, Bob Rulfs.

“Lee-Ann has such a helpful, kind, and above all else, a caring demeanor about her,” Richner wrote in her nomination.

She came to know LaBombard after getting the devastating news in June 2022 that her beloved grandfather was admitted to CVPH and was not expected to make it. Richner rushed to the hospital to be with “Grandpa Bob” and met up with a large contingent of family already there.

“Our family is quite large. My grandparents had four children, and then there are 12 grandchildren. So you can imagine we can be quite the crowd when gathered together,” Richner says.

Many of the family members came together at the entrance next to the Emergency Department. But it wasn’t an area that was conducive to privacy. And it wasn’t nearly as close as Richner and the rest of the Rulfs family wanted to be to their legendary loved one. At that time, COVID visitor protocols were in place but the CVPH Welcome Policy offered some flexibility to care teams to accommodate families during the last hours of their loved ones’ lives.

That’s where LaBombard, as a Patient Advocate Manager, came in. Richner contacted LaBombard, explaining the situation and the hope that the family could be closer to Rulfs as he received end-of-life care. After speaking to his doctors and the nursing unit’s leadership team, LaBombard opened up the solarium to the family.

“Lee-Ann went with us up to the floor and made sure that we were settled and as close to my grandfather’s room as we could be,” Richner recalls.

LaBombard, a registered nurse, requested a Comfort Cart for the family, so they had some light refreshments and continued checking in with Richner and other family members to ensure they had what they needed.

“I am and will be forever grateful for Lee-Ann and everything she did for our family. She made sure that I could be close to my grandfather during his final hours with us,” Richner adds. “Lee-Ann was a comfort for us during a very sad time for our family.”

“Everyone who ever met Grandpa Bob at Rulfs has a memory of him, from visiting him at the orchard to kids taking field trips there and picking pumpkins,” she continues. “I think the community would be happy and thankful to know that Lee-Ann made it possible for Grandpa to have his family with him during his final time on earth.”

LaBombard was presented with a certificate commending her as an extraordinary nurse leader during the award presentation. Like all honorees, she also received a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

CVPH launched the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in 2018 as a way to recognize and reward licensed nurses for making a meaningful difference in the lives of their patients. This year, the hospital has added the DAISY Awards to recognize nurse leaders and nurse-led teams. Nomination forms and boxes are located at each of the hospital’s main entrances and online at UVMHealth.org/CVPHDaisy. Patients, families, and colleagues may nominate nurses. A committee reviews nominations and awards a deserving nurse each quarter, a nurse leader twice a year and a nurse-led team annually.

The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day. The DAISY Foundation is a national not-for-profit organization established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System). The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. More information is available at DAISYfoundation.org.

Editor’s Note. The CVPH new releases initially stated that Ashley Richner nominated Lee-Ann Labombard. They later corrected it to read Ashley Pray.

A great game between Peru and Plattsburgh highlights the latest NBC5 Play of the Week

Click here for the MYNBC5 story 

Graffiti was found throughout various notable locations in the Lake City

Click here for the MYNBC5 story 

Click here for the Sun Community News story 

Click here for the MYNBC5 story 

Click here for the MYNBC story

Waterville, Maine: The North Atlantic Conference (NAC) announced today that SUNY Cobleskill sophomore men’s cross country runner Nik Recore, Peru, N.Y., Peru High School, has been named the NAC Men’s Cross Country Runner-of-the-Week for the week ending October 8, 2023.

The Fighting Tiger team captain was the team’s top finisher at the 2023 Hamilton College Invitational on Saturday placing 17^th overall in a 77-runner field by covering a soggy 8000-meter course in a time of 28:38.6 to lead Cobleskill to a fifth place finish in an eight-team field at the event.

Cobleskill will next be in action on Saturday October 14 when they travel to Springfield, Ma. to compete at the 2023 Golden Bear Invitational hosted by Western New England University beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Click here for the NCPR story