Under a headline of Wear Your Life Jacket: River Drownings Underscore Need For Simple Precaution, the front page of yesterday's Times Herald-Record pictures Commodore Richard Rhodes of the National Canoe Safety Patrol advocating the use of personal flotation devices (also known as life preservers) as he patrols the rapids at Skinners Falls on the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River.

Twenty-one years ago (!), I wrote a "Profile" of Commodore Rhodes, a family friend at the time with his wife Mary, for The River Reporter. It's good to see he's still out there taking care of business. It's also good to see the NCSP getting some public credit.

Tragically, despite these efforts, today's news reports that the Upper Delaware claimed yet another life.

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Link

• Profile: Dick Rhodes The River Reporter
• more

Download a copy of the original survey of the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike, Liber 18 of Deeds, pp. 325-336, filed 13 June 1807 in the Ulster County Court House at Kingston by William A. Thompson, Esq., first Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, County of Ulster, State of New York. (11 pages, 16MB, Acrobat file). "The Breadth of Broadway" summary report to Village Attorney and short version given as public comment at the July 7th the Village of Monticello Board of Trustees meeting; relevant cases, and cover letter.

Click "Read More" for an historical summary and implications for planned Broadway renovations.

"It would be a double honor", I told newly installed District Deputy Grand Master John Wells when asked to assist him during his two-year term by serving a Historian for the Sullivan Masonic District.

John told me the last man to serve as Historian for the Sullivan District was Bert Feldman, late of Mongaup Valley. Bert published numerous articles on the subject of local history. He was also a friend and sponsored my initial application to become a Freemason in 1992.

Here are a few Sullivan County history links from a Masonic perspective:

• Former Victoria Hotel Holds Little-Known History For Monticello Freemasons, by Tom Rue, July 2007
  
  
• Early History of Freemasonry in Sullivan County by Alvin O. Benton (1942), which I scanned in its entirety several years ago. Full text can be downloaded in several formats.
  
  
• Articles on the history of Monticello Lodge #532, F&AM, chartered in 1862
  
  

OPINION

Would it be sensible to appoint a convicted felon as a municipal prosecutor, even if the felon were reformed, rehabilitated, repentant, and an otherwise all-around nice guy, or even the best attorney in town?

It would seem to me hard to argue that appointing a felon as a prosecutor is ever a good idea.

That is what the Monticello Village Board of Trustees voted to do last week. The real problem, as I see it, is that the Board wasn't informed, before being asked to vote, of the lawyer's felony history.

The board voted three to one (with one Trustee absent) to approve the appointment by Mayor Gordon Jenkins of Robert Gaiman as Deputy Village Attorney to prosecute alleged Building Code violators. Village Manager John Barbarite asked Mayor Jenkins to make the appointment and, without informing the Board of the attorney’s felony record, the Mayor did so. Mr. Barbarite and the attorney have been close friends for many years.

Even if not explicitly prohibited by statute, it would seem like common sense to think that an attorney who not long ago pled guilty to federal tax fraud might run into credibility problems as a prosecutor -- or even as a Notary Public, for that matter.

For example, imagine a hypothetical civil rights suit in which a conspiracy by a municipal manager and prosecutor might be alleged. Imagine that the Manager and attorney being accused of unlawfully plotting together to wrongfully prosecute building owners based, for example, on reasons of ethnic prejudice, political vendettas, or other private motivations.

It's been said that you can tell a lot about a community by observing how they treat the elderly, children and their cemeteries.

On the northern boundary of Sleepy Hollow Apartments, adjacent to athletic fields of Monticello High School, there sits a small abandoned cemetery. Located inside a dilapidated split rail fence are several graves, with at least two visible tombstones. One marks the final resting place of Daniel Litts. The stone has been knocked over and lies flat on the ground, its lettering is barely legible. Next to to it is an unmarked block which which may memorialize Danie's wife Metje (Martha), who reportedly died on November 4, 1859 in Forestburgh. Metje was christened 7 April 1776 in Shawangunk, Ulster County, making her 82 years old at the time of her death.

The tract on which Monticello High School and Sleepy Hollow Apartments are today situated, in the southwestern section of what is now the Village of Monticello, was once owned by Ezekiel I. Masten. A portion described as being "on the road from Mamakating Hollow to Kinnebrook" was granted by Johannes Masten and Magdalena (or Madleen) Swart, who was born about 1756, to their sons-in-law Daniel Litts and Evert Terwilliger who moved there in February 1797.

For Immediate Release
NEWS
Dated: February 22, 2008.

Privacy protection with respect to personal healthcare information is not a partisan issue, although in this instance it involves data demanded and maintained by the Board of Elections.

Writing as an advocate for the mentally and physically disabled residents of Sullivan County who are entitled to vote by Absentee Ballot, I am also concerned as a taxpayer that, if adequate safeguards are not in place, the County of Sullivan opens itself to civil liability to a large class of potential plaintiffs.

Robert Cloninger, M.D. of the the School of Psychiatry at the Washington University of St. Louis originated the “How Spiritual Are You?” quiz which appeared in abbreviated form in a 2004 edition of Time Magazine,Time, October 25, 2004 and also on the website of Michael A. Toth, Ph.D. for use in a graduate Sociology of Religion class at Portland University. [PDF]

The "How Spiritual Are You" test was adapted from the Temperament and Character Inventory, a 240-question personality test developed by Cloninger at Sansone Center for Family Wellness, a psychiatric research center at Washington University. The "self-transcendence" sub-scale reportedly measures "what allows us to have the kind of experience described as religious ecstasy," according to Cloninger.

Photos taken at the Frederick Douglass Breakfast held Sunday, February 10th at the Woodbourne Fire Hall, and a copy of the breakfast journal (without ads) describing the accomplishments of the honorees, can be viewed by clicking on the image at right.

The 2008 recipient of the Frederick Douglass Award, Dorothy Fields of South Fallsburg, is pictured along with other recipients including Anthony McKinny of Monticello, Garrick Jackson of Liberty, and Jennifer Williams of Ellenville.

The full text of Ms. Fields' acceptance speech is posted here with the author's permission.

The annual breakfast, which marks the commemoration of Black History Month, is sponsored by the Sullivan County Chapter of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.

Texts of articles concerning a few past similar events covered for local news media include these: Genetha Armstrong (1997), Gladys Seals of Liberty (1996), and Bazelay Perry (1995).

For a complete list of past Frederick Douglass Award recipients, see the breakfast journal.

Photos of the public ceremony in which Sullivan County Court Judge Burton Ledina was sworn into office for another term may be found here, along with a link to order reprints for personal or non-profit use.1

1. 1. Or otherwise with permission.