The Peru Gazette

“New York’s budget has ballooned to a whopping $217 billion, which is an astonishing increase of more than $41 billion in just two years.  Despite the billions and billions of federal dollars to plug the state’s budget hole, this year’s budget includes more than $4 billion in new taxes to fund more spending.

“High taxes and a very challenging business environment, not the weather, has chased a lot of people out of New York State.  Rather than improve our competitiveness, this budget will likely hasten the exodus of residents, particularly professionals who have found this past year that they can do business in New York, but remotely and much more affordably.

“The $2.1 billion so-called ‘excluded worker’ fund to provide financial benefits of up to $27,900 for ‘off-the-books’ workers, including illegal aliens, held up budget negotiations for days as far-left New York City senators battled with more moderate fellow members.  At a time when businesses – many of them ‘mom and pop’ small businesses – are financially devastated and in need of help, the ‘excluded worker’ fund became the focal point.

“While I am very pleased funding and language for a comprehensive broadband study is in the budget, they also put in the budget a laudable but costly and unfunded mandate for low-cost broadband that may put small providers of broadband services out of business.  

“Finally, while some might call this budget transformative, it has been far from transparent.  The ‘messages of necessity’ and rush to pass bills late at night continues to reflect badly on a budget process that is anything but ‘good government’.”

WILMINGTON — The Ausable River Association (AsRA) announces the hire of Leanna Thalmann as their water quality associate. Working closely with AsRA’s scientific team and under the direction of Executive Director, Kelley Tucker, Thalmann will lead water quality monitoring, assessment, and stewardship of lakes and streams in the Ausable watershed and beyond.

A recent masters graduate of the University of Vermont, Thalmann studied water quality management with a focus on nutrient runoff from agricultural fields in the Ausable Watershed.  She received the Flanagan Scholarship at the W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute where she worked for the past two years developing skills in water quality monitoring, soil assessment, project management and technical writing. In 2019, she placed first for her presentation at the tri-society (Soil, Crop, Agronomy) meeting in the Soil & Water Conservation and Management Section in San Antonio, Texas.

Before attending the University of Vermont, Thalmann worked as a subsistence fisheries intern for the U.S. Forest Service in Sitka, Alaska. She operated a remote fish weir and enumerated adult sockeye salmon escapement. She also collected limnological field data (temperature, dissolved oxygen, light penetration profiles) and collected water samples for nutrient analysis.

Thalmann double majored in Environmental Science and Geology from SUNY Plattsburgh. She received the outstanding graduating senior in Environmental Science award and an undergraduate research award. She was the president of the Botanical Society of America student chapter. Thalmann has interned with Brookhaven National Laboratory and Suffolk County Parks and is proud to have contributed to their missions in conservation.

“I am excited to continue working in the Adirondacks and in the Ausable watershed,” Thalmann said. “The watershed is a great laboratory for clean water projects where we can identify challenges and test solutions.”

Leanna’s work revolves around clean water: she will continue monitoring AsRA’s 30+ sites on the East Branch, West Branch, and Main Stem Ausable River, monitor Ausable watershed lakes, and maintain AsRA’s extensive temperature monitoring network. She’ll also collaborate with AsRA’s partners on the Mirror Lake salt use reduction initiative, work with municipalities to track salt usage, oversee AsRA’s weather station, provide stewardship of the lake, and outreach to residents, businesses, and visitors.

Since 1998, the Ausable River Association has helped communities protect the region’s streams and lakes, their water quality, and the many forms of life that depend on them. More information about AsRA’s stream restoration efforts may be found online at www.ausableriver.org.

Source: COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expands to New Yorkers 16 and older today | NCPR News

Source: Details emerge on the $212B state budget agreement | City &

Source: City & State Albany Agenda co-sponsored by the Greater New York Hospital Association

Source: Scott rolls out timeline for full reopening – VTDigger

“I’ve already lost one family member; I don’t want to lose another,” Sara said. “I’m very proactive to all friends and family: if you can get it, get it.”Source: ‘I don’t want to lose another’ | Coronavirus | pressrepublican.com

Source: An App That Measures How High You Are? St. Mike’s Professor Tests The Idea | Vermont Public Radio

Source: Stimulus check update: Social Security recipients to start receiving $1,400 payments – syracuse.com

Source: Safe Travels: 20 swimming holes in Upstate New York for a relaxing dip – syracuse.com

Source: Union speaks out after violent prison assault | Sun Community News DANNEMORA | A violent prison incident in late March has prompted public outcry and left local union officials condemning recent legislation they said will further fail to protect officers f

Source: Parents cautioned of online dangers following teen suicide | Sun Community News RAY BROOK | Authorities are warning parents and teens about the dangers of online catfishing as one northern New York family now mourns the death of a teen victim who was targe

Source: City & State Albany Agenda co-sponsored by the Greater New York Hospital Association

Source: 1 year later, New York’s unemployment system is still broken: ‘It’s like 2020 all over again’ – syracuse.com

Source: ‘Extremely Busy’: Amid The Pandemic, Barre’s Granite Industry Booms | Vermont Public Radio

Source: UVM Medical Center pandemic protocol for expecting families

Source: Covid cases on rise in Burlington, and in nearly every Vermont county – VTDigger