BREAKING -- Wednesday, October 10, 2007   4:30 p.m.

New science teacher resigns

Dennis Bassin, the new science teacher at Cornwall Central High School, turned in a letter of resignation on Friday, and the Board of Education voted 8-0 to accept it at last night's meeting.

"Obviously there were reasons why that came to be," said Superintendent of Schools Tim Rehm.

Dennis Bassin was teaching forensics, physics, chemistry and biology part-time, until the week before last, when he was put on administrative leave. According to parents who spoke to the Local last week, Bassin had said things to female students that made them uncomfortable, and at least two of them had complained to school administrators.

"We had to look into a matter that was presented," said Rehm. He said the district is being aggressive in their search for a new teacher to take over Bassin's classes and that Principal Frank Sheboy is already interviewing candidates. Other teachers in the high school are filling in until another science teacher can be found.

BREAKING -- Wednesday, October 10, 2007  1:20 p.m.

Water.  Believe it or not....

Pop the champagne, or just throw open the taps... On Monday morning, Oct. 15, after more than twelve years of delays and cost overruns, the Black Rock Treatment Plant is going online.

On Monday, water drawn from two reservoirs -- Aleck Meadow and the Upper Reservoir -- will be treated at the Black Rock Treatment Plant off Route 9W and flow downhill and into our homes, mixed with well water and water from the New York City aqueduct.

Bob June, the water superintendent, says he expects they'll be treating about 200,000-300,000 gallons of water a day at first. The plant has the capacity to treat 1.5 million gallons a day.

BREAKING -- Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Chair emeritus of Black Rock dies at 97

William T. Golden, the man who bought Black Rock Forest from Harvard in 1989, saving it from development, died on Sunday in Manhattan. He was 97.

Golden was chairman emeritus of the Black Rock Forest Consortium at the time of his death. It was his idea to form a consortium to take over ownerhip of the forest in the 1980s. But when schools and museums he'd asked to be a part of it weren't able to put up the money, Golden bought the forest himself, all 3,800 acres of it. It was then leased back to the Consortium, which oversees the forest to this day.

Golden was born in 1909 in Manhattan. He made his money on Wall Street. But science was his passion. Read the New York Times obituary here.

Sports -- Monday, October 8, 2007

Click here to see action shots from Friday's football game taken by Scott Strine.

Sports -- Monday, October 8, 2007

Boys soccer defeats Sullivan West

photo by Margaret Menge Marques Mayoras, a freshman, dribbles downfield during Friday's game at Cornwall.

By Ken Cashman -- The high school’s varsity soccer team scored two goals in the second half to break a scoreless tie and defeat Sullivan West on Friday afternoon 2-0.

Matt Schweizer and Seamus Coons split the game in the net for Cornwall and posted the team’s fifth shutout of the year. James Edsall, a senior, came off the bench to score both goals. The victory gives the Dragons a 5-7 record.

BREAKING -- Sunday, October 7, 2007

Impeach or pack it up, says Sussman

Michael Sussman, the civil rights attorney and one-time candidate for county executive, told people at an impeachment forum this afternoon that if Reps John Hall and Maurice Hinchey aren't willing to support impeaching the president, they should pack it up. "If they can't be moved on this then who will be?" said Sussman, referring to the two liberal Democratic congressmen. "If you can't be on the right side, maybe someone else needs to take your position."

The impeachment forum, held at Monroe-Woodbury High School, was sponsored in part by the Democratic Alliance (run by Sussman) and by a group called Citizens for Impeachment. Guest speaker was ex-CIA agent Ray McGovern,... who was tossed out of the hearing room on Capitol Hill last month where Gen. Petraeus was about to testify.

More in Friday's paper ...

Special event -- Saturday, October 6, 2007  12:55 p.m.

Say it ain't so, Joe!

photo by Margaret Menge Town Police Chief Todd Hazard tags out Village water department employee Matt Clancy at home plate to help the Town defeat the Village in the annual softball game.

By Ken Cashman -- Mayor Joe Gross may want to start hiring more softball players. The Town outslugged the Village 22-15 this morning in the sixth annual Town-Village softball game. It was the Town's second straight victory after losing to the Village the first four years.

Both teams used up their quota of five home runs. So when Village Police Chief Charlie Williams launched a drive over the left field fence in the final inning, it was ruled the game- ending out.

Supervisor Richard Randazzo was one of several designated hitters for the Town. After the victory, he told the players they could take Monday off to rest. Monday, of course, is Columbus Day.    

Sports -- Friday, October 5, 2007  9:22 p.m.

Cornwall crushes Middletown 42-0

Click on the photo below to see game shots:

Conor Watts

The Dragons defeated Middletown 42-0 tonight, with senior Tom Terribile tackling a Middletown player in the end zone to score two points in the second half, and Kevin Arduino scoring a touchdown with a 35-yard pass to Craig Zuzek.

Zuzek and Conor Watts (above), both juniors, scored their first touchdowns of the season tonight.

Cornwall remains undefeated after the Middletown game. The Dragons have now beaten 21 Section 9 opponents in a row, going back to 2005.

Sports -- Friday, October 5, 2007  8:13 p.m.

Halftime report!

Local sports reporter Ken Cashman calling in from the Cornwall-Middletown football game here in Cornwall....

Cornwall is winning 34-0 at the half, with touchdowns by five of our guys. The longest was a 75-yard interception by junior Conor Watts.

Check back after 9 p.m. for the final score.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Science teacher on administrative leave

By Margaret Menge -- The new science teacher at Cornwall Central High School was removed from the classroom in front of students last week and has since been placed on administrative leave. “It’s a drag, it’s a drag for everyone,” said the parent of a high school student who had the teacher for a class.

According to three parents, Dennis Bassin is an interesting teacher, a quirky teacher who likely made a mistake when he reportedly made inappropriate comments to one or more female students. One parent said he wished there was some way Bassin could just make an apology, and return to the classroom.

The school district has placed Bassin on administrative leave pending an investigation into the matter. He has not been in the school since he left the classroom last week with an administrator.

Read the full story in this week's issue. Find a newsstand or buy a subscription.

Rachael Ray rumors

By Margaret Menge -- It started as speculation and got cooked up into a rumor that galloped around the town and village in about two days flat. Rachael Ray is buying Painter’s, and is looking at buying former Mayor Ed Moulton’s old home on Braden Place. That’s the rumor.

Rachael Ray is the cooking/travel/design darling who got her start on local television in Albany. The staff at Painter’s had already grown tired of people asking about the rumor by Monday, Sept. 24. They say there was no truth to it, and they just want to focus on running the business. Is it true she’s looking at Moulton’s home with Ellen Kelly of Smitchger Realty?

Read the full story in this week's issue. Find a newsstand or buy a subscription.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007  10:45 a.m.

Who's piloting this plane?

Local magazine writer Stephan Wilkinson has a piece today about airline pilots "Does It Matter Where The Captain Grew Up? You Bet" on the excellent Conde Nast Traveler blog, called the Perrin Post. Steve has been writing for Traveler for the last 20 years. He lives on Reservoir Road, practically inside of Black Rock Forest, with his wife Susan Crandell, the author/magazine editor/travel writer. Their daughter, Brook, a Harvard grad, is an associate editor at Traveler. Click the plane photo above to read Steve's (and Brook's) posts.

BREAKING -- Monday, October 1, 2007  5:35 p.m.

Town taxes to fall 14%

Supervisor Richard Randazzo cut back spending by almost $21,000 in the budget he's presenting to the members of the Town Board at tonight's meeting -- from $9,972,646 to $9,951,711.

If this budget is adopted by the Town Board, a resident with a home assessed at $200,000 will see his town taxes fall from about $1257 to about $1073 in January 2008 -- a 14 percent decrease. No positions were cut. In fact, included in this budget is a third sergeant for the town's police department, at a salary of $63,636. Also, a part-time employee in the town's recreation department is going full-time.

BREAKING -- Monday, October 1, 2007  12:39 p.m.

Scoldings all around!

Hall introducing resolution today...Our congressman has a heck of a balancing act here. First he took heat from his probable opponent (and some of our local veterans) over his silence on the MoveOn ad. And now, he's taking heat from the left at Daily Kos over his vote last week to condemn the attacks on Gen. David Petraeus. So later today, Rep. John Hall is introducing a resolution to "reject and codemn" Rush Limbaugh's recent comment about "phony soldiers" who are interviewed criticizing the war in Iraq. Click on 'Daily Kos' above to see Hall's diary posting on this.