The Peru Gazette

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The Peru CSD Board of Education will hold its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at 6:45 PM in the High School Cafeteria.  It is anticipated that an executive session will take place immediately following the 6:45 PM start, and that the Board will reconvene for public session business at approximately 7:00 PM.  The public may view the meeting live via Google Meet at http://meet.google.com/mff-qhju-nhg.  The meeting will also be recorded and will be available on the District’s website at www.perucsd.org.  The meeting will include a public comment period not to exceed twenty (20) minutes.  Comments will be presented in the order received and will be limited to two (2) minutes per commenter.  Online public comments may be submitted until 12:00 noon on February 9^th, by emailing perucomments@perucsd.org.

The meeting is open to the public and all current safety procedures and protocols will be followed.

The agenda will be available on the District’s website.

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Chazy, Canton, and Willsboro, New York.  The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) has funded research investigating the opportunity for regional growers to meet the New York State requirement that all Farm Brewery-Licensed beer be made with 90 percent New York-grown ingredients by 2024. The results of the first two years of trials at three sites in northern New York are now posted at https://www.nnyagdev.org.

Cornell University Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics Mark E. Sorrells, Ph.D., NNYADP malting barley project leader, noted, “Presently, not enough malting barley is being grown in New York State to meet brewer demand for New York-grown ingredients, which is driven by New York State law. Production of malting-grade and feed-grade barley could become a viable option for northern New York growers. We must learn whether today’s malting barley varieties will reliably overwinter in the northern regional climate.”

With funding from the NNYADP in 2019 and 2020, Sorrells established trials of winter and spring malting barley at Chazy, Canton, and Willsboro, New York. He is pleased with the early data.

“The winter survival rate was surprisingly good, particularly at one site, after one year of winter exposure for the 10 winter malting barley varieties planted at Canton and Willsboro in the fall of 2019. The varieties that had the best winter survival also produced the best grain yields. Four varieties produced yields of 50 or more bushels per acre with survival rates of 86 percent or higher,” Sorrells said.

Sorrells points out that the trials’ early data sets clearly make the case for multi-year and regional testing. The spring malting barley variety that had the lowest yield in 2019 produced the highest mean plot yield and test weight in 2020 for the combined Chazy-Canton evaluation of the 10 varieties planted at both sites. Additional years’ data will help determine the factors influencing that dramatic difference in results.

Sorrells estimates the market value of malting barley at $8 to $12 per bushel, and notes that the regional research also positions NNY growers to sell their crops to malt houses and brewers in neighboring states as well as to those in New York State.

A 2018 economic study by the New York State Brewers Association, Rochester, New York, reported that 26 breweries located throughout the six-county northern New York region employed 3339 workers receiving $34.589 million in wages, with a total industry output of more than $130.4 million in the regional economy.

The complete Malting Barley Variety Evaluations for Production in NNY report is posted under the Research: Field Crops tab 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.

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The governor’s promise almost five years ago of high-speed broadband for all remains unfulfilled.  Having heard frustrated pleas from families, businesses, schools and many others, my colleagues and I proposed legislation last year to drill down into this problem and come up with solutions to end this technological inequality.  The governor’s recent veto of our proposal is very disappointing.

In 2015, Governor Cuomo announced the New NYS Broadband Program, a $500 million investment to reach under and unserved regions. His website assured that as of 2018, “99.9 percent of New Yorkers” would have access to high-speed broadband.  The state Broadband office last year claimed 98 percent of New York has that access.  However, based on my conversations with town and county supervisors, school superintendents and parents I am sure that is not the case for upstate New York.

During the first phase of the coronavirus pandemic last spring, over 700,000 students and 18,000 teachers statewide lacked broadband access as estimated by Common Sense Media. At a time when in-person learning was impossible, 27 percent of students couldn’t access remote learning. On top of this, you had hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers working from home and businesses trying to maximize their online presence to offset the loss of in-person service. We saw that our state’s internet infrastructure was incapable of meeting the needs of a substantial portion of our residents.

The Legislature last July passed the Comprehensive Broadband Connectivity Act (A.6679/S.8805) with near unanimous consent. The point was to require the Public Service Commission (PSC) to study the availability, affordability, and reliability of high-speed internet and create a detailed access map on its public website.

Our goal was to identify with highly specific detail exactly those who find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide.  Then focus attention and resources on fixing the problem.  

Instead of signing this bi-partisan legislation, Governor Cuomo vetoed it. In rejecting the Comprehensive Broadband Connectivity Act, his spokesman claimed that “we agree with it in concept and will be including a proposal in the budget.”  The governor’s budget was proposed on January 19 and still we wait.

Last year, Governor Cuomo said, “Look at the data…Listen to the experts.”  Let it be known: the data shows that over a quarter of our children are already or at serious risk of falling behind academically due to insufficient internet access. The numbers show a strong online presence is crucial to keeping our economy afloat. The surge of New Yorkers struggling to schedule an appointment for the coronavirus vaccine make reliable, high-speed internet of paramount importance.  

The lack of high-speed broadband has caused continued distress and disadvantages for so many of our communities and addressing this issue just can’t wait until April 1 when a new budget is due.  I ask that the governor take action on broadband access immediately.

Source: Missed broadband connections could mean missed opportunities for North Country | NCPR News

The rolling replica of the Washington, D.C. Vietnam Veterans Memorial will now make its first trip to the Northern Tier June 24-27 when it comes to the Great Chazy River Memorial Post 1418.

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Birding is a great way to get outdoors and enjoy nature in the winter without having to tackle the technical skills required for many winter sports. Appropriate for all ages, birding is an exciting learning experience that can lead to a lifelong hobby. It’s also a fun way to engage in citizen science.

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a fun event for bird watchers of all ages and abilities, from beginners to experts. The 24th annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2021.Participants are needed! To help, you will need to count birds for at least 15 minutes (or longer if you wish) for one or more days of the four-day event. You can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world.

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