The Peru Gazette

Source: Barclay, GOP lawmakers introduce Cuomo impeachment resolution in Albany – syracuse.com

Four in 10 children in the U.S. live in households struggling to afford basic expenses, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Now, as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the House and Senate have passed a child benefit, the first of its kind in the United States.

It would provide $300 per month per child under age 6, and $250 per month for children over 6, to families making up to $150,000 a year. This benefit, combined with other enhanced benefits in the package, could cut child poverty in the U.S. by half, according to an analysis by Columbia University.

Source: What The $300 A Month Child Benefit Could Mean For A Family On The Edge | Vermont Public Radio

Source: Road Salt Is A Problem For Rivers. Adding Water May Be A Solution · New England News Collaborative

Source: Has the Adirondack Mountain Club Lost its Way? – – The Adirondack Almanack

ALBANY — If Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo were to resign or be impeached, the potential first woman governor of New York is waiting in the wings.

Kathleen C. Hochul, 62, has served as New York’s lieutenant governor since 2015, the beginning of Cuomo’s second term in office.

Source: Woman on the verge: Hochul praised for her ability to connect

Source: Skidmore student: ‘Cancel culture organized against us’

Source: Virus in Vermont: UVM grad considers a future away from Burlington – VTDigger

Source: William Shatner to celebrate 90th birthday with ‘Star Trek’ event in Upstate NY – syracuse.com

Source: Health Department breaks down COVID violations | Sun Community News PLATTSBURGH | With the approaching one year mark since the start of the global pandemic and lockdown, guidelines have changed how businesses operate. Molly Flynn, Senior Public Health Educ

Source: Vermont confirms first case of UK virus variant in Chittenden County – VTDigger

Peru, NY – Apple Valley Senior Housing is seeking a part-time maintenance worker. Hours vary depending on what is required from day to day, with a salary of $20.00 per hour.   This position requires a wide range of skills and abilities including but not limited to repair and maintenance of apartments, equipment, and troubleshooting over the facilities. Snow removal for parking lots and sidewalks is also an essential part of this position.  Apple Valley has the necessary equipment for all projects that need to be completed on-site.   Experience is necessary.  If you are interested, please send your resume, with three references to Kathleen Flynn, 1 Apple Valley Drive Peru, NY 12972 or email at kflynn@applevalleysh.org

Source: The guidelines for people vaccinated against COVID-19 are here. What are the new rules?

The Peru Central School District is seeking a candidate to fill one (1) vacant, at-large seat on the Board of Education, due to the expiration of the term of Mr. Robert LaFountain.

The seat is for a full five-year term from July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2026.  

At least 25 signatures of qualified voters of the Peru Central School District are required for the petition to be considered for nomination.

Petitions must be returned to the District Office no later than 5:00 PM on Monday, April 19, 2021.

Source: Paul Smith’s College Beats the Odds – Mountain Lake PBS

Source: International Women’s Day: March 8, 2021

By Sister Debbie Blow, Director of the North Country Mission of Hope

Today is International  Women’s Day and I’d like to introduce you to this remarkable woman who has a unique connection with us.

Many many years ago, the Dominican Sisters of Hope (Sr. Steph and me, along with other members of our congregation) paid for Magaly Velasquez to finish her high school education and to be the first woman the Mission was sponsoring, to finish college.  (Mind you, the cost was approximately $240 annually to go to college.)

In recent years, Magaly has also completed several courses in English as well as a First Responder Program through the International Red Cross.  She then initiated a first responder program in multiple poor barrios where we serve with the support of key folks like Bill Calmbacher and the Mission of Hope.

We’ve always had a special belief that Magaly would and could empower the women in her barrios.  She has trained them in sewing and making pinatas, as well as coordinating much of our ECO and Education pillars.  We got to know Magaly when she was teaching sewing at Nino Jesus de Praga school and was our key guide when visiting the people in the barrios.  Her knowledge of the people, clarity about their needs and sensitivity to all the families in need, modeled well what the Mission of Hope sought.  She has now been employed with the Mission of Hope since 2004 and is our Assistant Administrator.

Magaly is well versed in all our pillars and programs.  There are so many stories to share about this woman which will never reach the news, but those of us who have met and ministered with her, know how integral she is to the success and service of the North Country Mission of Hope.

Her greatest role is being an educated, empowering woman in leadership!  Equally important, she is totally committed to the Mission’s service to the poorest and most marginalized.  She is highly respected, a woman of deep faith, committed to her family, and has a passion for serving others through the Mission of Hope!  We are incredibly blessed to know and love her.  Magaly is an amazing woman and one I’m proud to call friend and colleague.   We raise her up to you on International Women’s Day as our very own living example of HOPE on this special day!

Peru, N.Y.  The latest apple research results from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) evaluate how well computerized modeling programs help growers determine when to begin thinning the bloom in their orchards. Three commercial apple orchards in Peru, New York (Clinton County) participated in the NNYADP on-farm thinning trials in 2020: Everett Orchards, Forrence Orchards, and Northern Orchard.  The latest results report is posted on the NNYADP website at https://www.nnyagdev.org/index.php/2020-nny-projects.

“Thinning apples at bloom is an orchard practice with the greatest potential to increase apple size for the current year’s harvest as well as to promote a return bloom the next year,” says project leader Michael Basedow, a Cornell Cooperative Extension tree fruit specialist.

The optimal number of fruit per tree where yield, apple size, and fruit quality are well-balanced to bring the greatest economic return to the grower varies by the variety of apple. Two of the 2020 NNYADP in-orchard trials were in Honeycrisp variety orchard blocks; the third in a Gala block.

“Bloom thinning is a promising approach for managing crop load and is used extensively by apple growers in Washington State, but it is a difficult practice to perform as it requires precise timing of the thinning material applications,” Basedow notes.

Basedow’s research is applying the use of computerized modeling to determine when growers should apply materials that help reduce the crop load to allow the trees to produce apples of optimal quality and size and in numbers that also allow the trees to efficiently bloom again the next year. The Pollen Tube Growth Model estimates the amount of time between pollination and fertilization of apple flowers to help growers plan for a first thinning application.

To gauge how well the trees have responded to the thinning process throughout the growing season, Basedow is evaluating the use of the Fruit Growth Rate (FGR) model that estimates the amount of crop still on the trees after each thinning application. This helps determine if additional thinning is needed.

In the 2020 trials, the FGR modeling over-predicted the remaining crop load by 10 percent at the Gala site and by 160 percent at one of the Honeycrisp sites. The research team is evaluating factors, such as cold temperature damage to buds in the spring and fruit drop during periods of high heat stress and drought, for possible influence on the FGR model’s accuracy. Both of these weather-related conditions occurred in northern New York in 2020.

This spring’s orchard bloom will let the growers know how well the timing of their applications in 2020 functioned to aid the return bloom for 2021.

Earlier precision apple management research results reports are posted in the Research: Horticulture section of the NNYADP website at https://www.nnyagdev.org.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature and administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

While no well is pollution-proof, a dug well is at higher risk for contamination. A drilled well is more secure, but regardless of depth, it’s still vulnerable to surface pollutants near the wellhead. There’s no such thing as a well in “solid rock,” which by definition is a dry hole in the ground. Water flows into boreholes at various depths through bedding planes in sedimentary formations, and joints and fissures in all rock types. Contaminants are sometimes drawn into wells along these channels.

Source: National Groundwater Awareness Week is March 7-13 – – The Adirondack Almanack

Source: Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge structural problems were covered up