The Peru Gazette

How IBM cuts could trigger other Vt. job losses – WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-.

Adirondack lands, waterfall open up – Times Union.

IBM slashes 700 jobs in Dutchess County, site of its chip fab – The Buzz: Business news.

A Burlington Company Takes a Chance on the Segway | Seven Days.

Garden Talks
Our latest garden talk Planting Day was held on Thursday, May 16th. Led by a Master Gardener our group learned all about when to plant our vegetables and a closing open forum was full of helpful gardening tips. Our next talk is at 6:00pm on June 20″‘ and will be on tomatoes.
Free and open to the public.

Community Garden
Most of our garden has been planted: beans and peas, lettuces, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and melons. But, there is still some remaining space if anyone would like to use it.

Summer Family Programs
Our summer programming will begin on Tuesday, July 9 and will run on consecutive Tuesdays through the month of July. We will present magicians, and storytellers and musicians and a live theater production of The Secret Garden- all tying in with our summer reading theme “Dig into Reading”.
Programs are on Tuesdays in July at 2:30 pm and are free.

Children’s Art Classes
Art teacher Greg Badger will hold art classes for children here at the library as part of our summer programming. Structured art classes will be held during July and into August. Morning and afternoon classes will be offered. There will be no fee but children must be registered.

IBM layoffs have begun – WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-.

Little Ausable River at 3 pm, June 12, 2013

Water laps on bridge – Movie Heyworth-Mason 4a 

and 

Movie Little Ausable Rages

By  John T. Ryan

Important decisions having to do with water quality improvement project costs, natural gas availability and speed limits highlighted the Monday, June 10, 2013 Town Board meeting.  Counselors approved two resolutions that could add from $25, 000 to $50,000 to the cost of the water quality improvement project. Bringing natural gas to more town residents will be more difficult than the board had been led to believe and Lyons Road residents were present to request lowering the speed limit on that highway.

Following a recommendation by the town’s project engineer, the counselors authorized the expenditure of not more that $15,000 to pay a “Resident Project Representative” to monitor the last phase of the $3.2 million water quality improvement project. The delayed filtration media has arrived and the redesigned control values are scheduled to arrive at the contractor J. Hogan Refrigeration and Mechanical on June 13^th. AES Northeast engineer Todd Hodgson said the project representative would ensure that the project would be completed in conformance with specifications.

Hodgson also recommended a change order estimated to cost in excess of $20,000. The change will allow the filters to be separately cleaned (backwashed) thereby maintaining filtration media efficiency. The town may be required to solicit bids for the change order. Town Attorney Donald Biggs will research the legal requirements. Advertising for bids would delay the project by a few days. The board will schedule a Special Meeting if necessary.

In response to a question from this reporter, Counselor Brandy McDonald stated any Peru resident desiring natural gas service must call the NYSEG’s 800 number (800-572-1111) and request an application. McDonald said a letter NYSEG sent to Peru residents a few weeks ago was “misleading.”  At the April 22, 2013 board meeting McDonald stated that a NYSEG representative told him that if 10% of residents responding to the letter indicated an interest in installing natural gas service, there would be a good chance that service would be extended to many parts of the community.

Lyons Road residents Cindy Arnold and Lee Meyer asked the board for a lower speed limit on the Lyons Road. Arnold said, “There is no posted speed limit, making the limit 55 miles per hour. There’s a daycare and disabled people along the road. There have been several accidents and close calls. We need help with speeders from the South Junction Road to the Rock Road.”  As they have done with similar requests the board passed a resolution requesting that the NYS Department of Transportation consider lowering the speed limit. Counselor Brandy McDonald stated that a petition signed by Lyons Road residents could help bring a more favorable resolution.  He stated, “The community has more say on speed limits than we do.”

In other actions/news:

Peru Central Physical Education teacher Tracy Posada described the “Adventure Challenge Program” to the board. The program is intended to promote physical fitness, especially among young children. It will be conducted on Saturday, June 29^th at the Laphams Mills Park. There will be obstacles with water, mud, climbing, crawling and jogging. This year’s kindergarten through 6th grade children are encouraged to participate. The cost will be $10 per child up to a maximum of $25 per family. Click here for YouthAdventureChallenge Pre-Registration Form.

The board reappointed Tim Surpitski to a 6-year term as Town of Peru Assessor. Surpitski’s current term of office expires on September 30, 2013.

The Lyon Street School was added to the National Register of Historic places on May 22, 2013. The designation makes it feasible for the town to apply for grants to restore the building. (See earlier story & photo) 

The agricultural overlay to the proposed new zoning law is being amended. Several local dairy farmers and apple growers objected to their land being restricted to agricultural use. If the profitability of the dairy or apple industry changes, they want the ability to use or sell their land for other than agriculture purposes. The proposed law would have restricted the future use of the land to only agricultural purposes.

Rick Perry goes job-hunting in New York – Editorial.

Why the Washington spy scandal isn’t a scandal « The In Box.

Watertown Daily Times | DOD confirms identity of two Fort Drum soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Saturday.

From the Office of State Senator Betty Little

A proposed state constitutional amendment that would allow for a land exchange between New York State and NYCO Minerals, Inc. located in Essex County won second passage today in the Senate according to its sponsor, Senator Betty Little. The exchange would enable NYCO to continue its wollastonite mining operations in the Town of Lewis while adding valuable land to the state Forest Preserve.  The Adirondack Council today added their support for the amendment.

Senator Little commented,  Read more »

The Buffalo News: Albany remains a cesspool of corruption. Every year, it seems, elected officials, including members of the Assembly and Senate, are unmasked as thieves, cheats or manipulators gaming the system for their own benefit. They extend from the rank and file to the leaders of each chamber to independently elected officeholders such as former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi.//It has become so predictable and so bad that Albany needs to revamp its entire system of financing elections, providing for a public match of funds that will give potential candidates without deep pockets a chance to run against entrenched and financially flush incumbents.//Other reforms need to take place, as well, including a ban on campaign consultants cashing in on their success by suddenly turning corporate lobbyist. It’s a scam, and the public pays. (BN)

Cuomo bill eyes public-financed elections – Times Union.

Wilmington Whiteface Bike Fest This Weekend – The Adirondack Almanack

Watertown Daily Times | Caddisflies are missing from Ogdensburg, and no one really knows why.

CUNY and SUNY bigs get chauffeurs as tuition soars – NYPOST.com.

Capitol Confidential » Here’s the Tax-Free NY bill.

Please read the audit findings of NYS Comptroller Thomas DeNapoli. These are the best results the Peru Gazette has ever seen! 

Trailer destroyed by fire in Peru » Local News » Press-Republican.

By John T. Ryan

June 9 – Generations of Peru Central School students remember Bill Ston as their high school chemistry teacher. Yesterday another important part of Bill’s life was recalled as he joined fifteen other World War II veterans on the North Country Honor Flight to Washington DC. The veterans toured the World War II Memorial, the Iwo Jima Monument and Arlington Cemetery.

Attack Transport USS Baxter

Commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy on January 20, 1944, following his graduation from St. Lawrence University and the V-12 Officer Training Program at Notre Dame University, Bill Ston was on active duty from January 1944 to January 1946. Assigned to the attack transport the USS Baxter, he commanded boats as they landed men and equipment on the Philippine Islands of Leyte and Luzon and the Japanese islands of Okinawa. The Leyte invasion took place in October and November 1944; Luzon in January 1945; and Okinawa in April 1945.

Ston described his duties,  “I was in charge of a number of boats. It was my responsibility to see everyone got to the beach. My boat was in the middle of what we called an assault wave.” He witnessed Japanese kamikaze attacks at both Leyte and Okinawa.  He said, “At Leyte a kamikaze aircraft attacked a distant ship and a nearby ship. Instead of coming after us, it turned and smashed into the side of the other ship. It looked like he was going to come right towards us. It scared the hell out of me.”

While the USS Baxter didn’t encounter active opposition at Okinawa, landing troops and equipment in unknown waters was difficult. Ston explained, “The landing boats always leaked water. Something plugged the pumps on my boat and we were low in the water. I sent signals to the other boats to continue.”

Fortunately, a repair crew rapidly came to Ston’s assistance and he was able to off-load about 30 U.S. Army troops and equipment. Unfortunately, when the small Army vehicle descended the ramp into what appeared to be shallow water, it disappeared into the Pacific waters. Ston believes that it drove off the edge of a coral reef.

Bill Ston taught high school science in Peru from 1949 to 1977.  He is 92 years of age and resides on the Barney Downs Road in Peru. Anyone who attends a local community dinner is likely to see Bill in attendance accompanied by either his daughter Julie Liberty and her husband Gary or his son Joe Ston and his wife Susan.

Doug Brown and a P-38 Recon Aircraft

By John T. Ryan

June 9 – Many people know Doug Brown as the man who operated Peru Hardware for 40 years (1946-1985).  Like most World War II veterans, Doug didn’t talked to many people about his war experiences and like most of those veterans he had never visited the World War II Memorial in Washington DC. Yesterday, thanks to the Honor Flight Program, Doug Brown and fifteen other local World War II veterans flew to our nation’s capital to view the World War II Memorial, the Iwo Jima Monument and Arlington Cemetery.  Doug’s daughter Gail Moore accompanied him on the trip.

Doug Brown and his daughter Gail Moore

Brown entered military service in 1942. He served in the 33^rd Photo Reconnaissance Squadron attached to the 9^th Air Force. He was a corporal in the engineering unit, working on the P-38 aircraft.  The planes were unarmed and flew missions to take photos before and after bombing missions. The 33^rd Photo Recon Squadron carried out the biggest photo recon mission of the 9^th Air Force in World War II. The unit was always on the move, following the changing positions on the front line.  Brown served in England, France, Belgium and Germany. He was discharged in 1945.

Brown vividly recalls his military service.  He said, “I enjoyed working on airplanes, but I’ll never forget how cold it was sleeping in a tent in the wintertime in Belgium.” While his squadron usually set operations at a captured base a few miles behind the front lines, things could get dangerous. Brown recalled, “One day a German jet flew over us. It was so low we could easily see a swastika painted on the side.” Brown’s unit followed the Allied troops into Paris and he vividly recalls visiting the Buchenwald concentrate camp in Germany about a week after it was liberated.

Doug Brown and his wife Helen reside on the River Road in Peru.  He’s 92 years age now, but still maintains his home and mows its big lawn. Last week he rejoined his golfing friends for another summer of league play.

Hundreds of people came to the Base Oval and the Clinton County Airport this morning to give sixteen World War II veterans a wonderful “North Country Honor Flight” send-off.  This afternoon the veterans and their escorts will visit the World War Ii Memorial, the Iwo Jima Monument and Arlington Cemetery. They’ll arrive back home about 11 tonight.  Please watch the slideshow.  I think you’ll find it to be an emotional experience.  Click here to view slideshow. Turn up your sound! 

U.S. Navy Vets – Bill Ston (left) and Ralph Santor

Watertown Daily Times | Fourth Samaritan nurse accused of drug charges.

Agenda 06.13-1