CHAMBER NEWS HOME

November 5, 2008

FLU VACCINE UPDATE

New for the 2008-2009 flu season; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all children ages 6 months through 18 years receive the flu vaccine.

The vaccine was previously recommended for ages 6 months to 59 months and for high- risk individuals between ages 5 and 18 years.

Recommendations for other age groups have not changed. High-risk individuals between 19 and 49 should receive the vaccine. All individuals age 50 and older should receive the vaccine annually.

The 2008-2009 flu vaccine incorporates three different flu strains that the CDC forecasts will be problem bugs this season. This vaccine will not give you the flu, which is a common misconception. It will protect you from getting the flu for one year. (If you do get the flu, it will be a more mild case.)

Only a doctor can diagnose a true case of the flu be administering specific tests. Get your vaccination as soon as it is available. Call your doctor or public health clinic to find out if they have it and schedule an appointment.

SHINGLES VACCINE

Anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles. Shingles can be very serious and can cause long-term complications.

Zostavax, a vaccine for adults age 60 and older, has been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help prevent this debilitating condition.

Discuss the possibility of getting the shingles vaccine with your doctor. You can call the Customer Service number on the back of you identification card to confirm the vaccine is a covered benefit of your contract.

HEALTH INHERITANCE

Do you know if your family has a history of a serious or life-threatening illness? Do you know if your sister or brother has high blood pressure? If you can’t answer these questions, it’s time to trace your family’s health history.

This important step helps you learn about common problems that affect your blood relatives. Among the most important are heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes, along with many rare disorders.

To get started, check out the Family History Initiative from the Department of Health and Human Services (www.hhs.gov/familyhistory). Use the My Family Health Portrait tool to organize your family’s health history. You can review it with your doctor and save it with your other important health information.

GOOD QUESTIONS, GOOD HEALTH

Sometimes when you see your doctor, you suddenly forget all the questions you wanted to ask. This is especially difficult when your doctor tells you that you have a new health problem.

Now there’s a tool to help you avoid this problem. You’ll find it on the National Patient Safety Foundation web site at www.npsf.org/askme3. Here you’ll get information that you can print and take with you to your next appointment. You will be able to write down your questions and concerns, so you will remember all the things you wanted to talk with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Finding out the answers to all your questions and knowing as much as you can about your health issues and medications increases your ability to make health choices.

SPEAK UP TO HELP YOURSELF

Take a look at The Joint Commission’s “Speak Up Initiatives” on their web site at: www.jointcommission.org/GeneralPublic/Speak+Up (The Joint Commission is an independent organization that promotes patient safety and the improvement of the quality of care consumers receive.) These educational information brochures include:

· Help Prevent Errors in your Care

· Help Avoid Mistakes in Your Surgery

· Information for Living Organ Donors

· Five Things You Can Do to Prevent Infection

· Help Avoid Mistakes With Your Medicine

· What You Should Know About Research Studies

· Planning Your Follow-up Care

· Help Prevent Medical Test Mistakes

· Know Your Rights

· Understanding Your Doctors and Other Caregivers

October 14, 2008

Adirondack Cooking School: Holiday Series

Lake Clear, NY. Harness the flavors of the season without breaking the bank for the upcoming holidays! The Adirondack Cooking School sponsored by The Adirondack Resort and Retreat at Hohmeyer’s Lodge on Lake Clear is holding a special holiday series. The Adirondack Cooking School is focused on helping save you time and money this holiday season by teaching you how to get in touch with the cooking roots of your grandmother - 21st century style!

Interact in an original Adirondack lodge Old World kitchen:

- October 19^th: 10 Holiday Planning Secrets From an Executive Chef, Create Simple Holiday Appetizers Paired With Wine and Beer

- October 26^th: Roasts, Stews & Sassy Sauces: Cook Once for the Whole Week!-

- November 2^nd: The Holiday Sweet Tooth: Yummy, Local & Organic-

- November 9^th: Simple & Healthy Holiday Meals with a Budget in Mind-

- November 16^th: Spatzel, Marzipan & Dumplings: Old World Holiday Touches

Learn to cook once and savor a smorgasbord of meals for a week. Learn how to cut your meats to get the most out of them. Ferment your own vegetables naturally. Let Executive Chef Cathy Hohmeyer guide you in the art of her 100 Mile influenced Adirondack cuisine with Old World flair and learn many more time and money saving ideas. The Adirondack Cooking School Holiday series will teach you how to cook a complete holiday meal using local products with holiday Old World flair! Chef Cathy’s intimate classes will focus on 10 ways to save on your holiday food budget, how to create healthy yet naturally decadent holiday cuisine and desserts, give you information about no- and low-glycemic natural sugar substitutes (great for diabetics or anyone on a diet during the holiday season!), how to get the most nutrition and value out of your organic and/or local foods, and other ideas to make your holiday cooking healthy, fun and cost effective. Let the fusion of local, Old World and New Age meld together with Chef Cathy’s unique culinary style that fuses Old World cooking preparation, Adirondack local products, and 21^st century essential oils – for the ultimate fusion of holiday feasts with health in mind. All classes come with Adirondack Cooking School membership, an online Adirondack Cooking Club blog, recipes and follow-up assistance all for just $75 per person per class or $60 each when you take more than one! Group discounts available. For more information on the holiday cooking class series please visit www.AdirondackAlps.com or call (518) 891-1489. The Adirondack Resort and Retreat at Hohmeyer’s Lodge on Lake Clear was voted #1 restaurant in Northern NY in 2007 by Watertown Daily Times, awarded the 2008 National Geographic Traveler’s “Stay List” and has been providing Adirondack-based Old World culinary experiences for over 3 generations.

October 4, 2008

VACCINATIONS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Whether you’re a child or an adult, you’ll stay well by keeping immunizations up to date.

It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time when diseases like polio and small pox were commonplace scourges that people faced daily. That all changed with the advent of vaccines, one of the 20^th century’s most successful, cost-effective public health stories. The practice of widespread immunization has prevented disease and death across a broad spectrum of society, rendering at least 15 crippling or life- threatening illnesses virtually impotent.

Most People know that the practice of immunization begins at childhood, but adults can benefit from certain vaccinations, too. A few vaccinations require updates, or boosters, through adulthood. And travel abroad may also necessitate specific shots.

Many vaccines have a minimum-age, maximum-age “window” When they can be administered. Others are part of a series, and the series must be completed for the vaccine to be fully effective.

INFANTS:

Among the vaccinations given to children before their first birthday are several series and individual immunizations, including those against hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis, haemophilus influenzae type b, inactivated poliovirus, pneumococcal conjugate, and rotavirus.

TODDLERS:

After the first birthday, some of the series above may be completed, while a few additional vaccines are also introduced, offering protection against measles, mumps and rubella (German measles), varicella (chickenpox) and hepatitis A, for children at risk.

SCHOOL CHILDREN:

Again, some series are completed or updated during these years. In addition, at age 11 or 12, most children require a tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) booster. Some also need a meningitis immunization. And girls should be vaccinated against human papillomavirus to guard against the most severe strains of genital warts and cervical cancer.

COLLEGE FRESHMEN:

When a teen is heading off to the dormitories, it’s time for a specific meningitis vaccine to prevent a deadly strain of the disease that spreads quickly in crowded quarters

ADULTS:

Be sure to discuss vaccinations for the flu, pneumonia and hepatitis B with your doctor. Also, make sure you and your doctor keep track of tetanus and diphtheria shots, which should be updated every 10 years. If you plan to travel overseas, check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to see whether the destination country hosts yellow fever or other diseases that require vaccinations.

AGE 65 AND OVER:

Seniors should be vaccinated against influenza and pneumoccal disease. There is also a new vaccine available to help older adults avoid a painful shingles outbreak.

October 1, 2008

Nature Conservancy Buys Follensby Pond Tract

Property owner John S. McCormick Jr. and his late wife ‘Bird,’ have sold the 14,600-acre forest, including historic Follensby Pond, to the Nature Conservancy.

Philosophers' Camp

During the summer of 1858, James Stillman, a painter and Schenectady-native, organized a trip to Follensby Pond. With him he brought some of the 19th century’s most eminent thinkers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet James Russell Lowell and scientist Louis Agassiz (download a map of historic sites).

They descended upon the southern end of the pond, setting up in an area that became known as “Camp Maple,” so named for the massive trees that grew there. “Northward the length of Follansbee we rowed,” Emerson writes. “Under low mountains, whose unbroken ridge ponderous with bechen forest sloped the shore. A pause and council: then, where near the head due east a bay makes inward to the land between two rocky arms, we climb the bank…”

Out of the Philosophers' Camp emerged a truly American-born philosophy known as Transcendentalism. Emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual over the empirical, these scholars held nature in high regard; their art and literature transformed America’s relationship with the wild and sparked a preservationist movement that continues today. More on the Philosophers Camp

A National Symbol

The scholars have come and gone and still, Follensby Pond is more than a symbol of wilderness and relic of Adirondack lore. Bald eagles, too, have come and gone…and, against dismal odds, returned after decades of absence from the Adirondack skies.

In 1950, the pond was one of the last places in the Adirondack Park with nesting bald eagles. By the 1960s, populations had plummeted due to the use of DDT, and only one unproductive pair remained in New York.

Follensby Pond was selected as the only site in the Adirondack Park where bald eagles, which by then were listed as endangered, were reintroduced, a process called “hacking.” New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) endangered species unit leader Peter Nye led the effort in the 1980s. (Watch a slideshow of the process)

“Follensby was an ideal location for hacking because it had suitable habitat, was free from human disturbance, and good for nesting,” he says. In short, it was “a place where eagles could be eagles.”

In 1981, Nye traveled to Alaska, one of the few places in the nation where eagles were still plentiful, to collect eaglets mature enough to care for themselves, but not yet able to fly. As many as 60 eaglets were released at Follensby Pond over several years. Today, the 12 bald eagle nesting pairs in the Adirondacks are a testament to the success of those efforts, which were made possible through the cooperation and support of John and Bird McCormick.

September 19, 2008

OPEN ENROLLMENT CHECK LIST

It’s open enrollment season! Use this checklist to prepare for a smooth benefit renewal.

· Review current benefit package, including riders, tier structure and policies on waiting periods and terminations.

· Contact your broker for a consultation. They can help you review your current package and advise whether to renew your benefits as-is or take advantage of another cost-saving option or a different company.

· Submit written request to your broker for desired changes. All terms/changes must be in submitted in written form to be valid.

· Alert your insurance company or broker of changes in address, phone number, or contact person.

· Schedule an open enrollment meeting with your broker.

Please call the Chamber with your insurance questions we are here for all your insurance needs. Call Sandy or Kelli at 518-563-1000.

July 18, 2008

News from P-2's Irish Pub;

Hello Everyone! Wow! Summer is fast upon us and keeping us all busy....The Fourth of July, Woodsmen's Days, Tupper Lake Days...Welcome to our new subscribers...feel free to pass this on to your friends and family. Send me a note and I will be glad to add you to the list if you are not already part of the e-Newsletter distribution.

1. P-2's Irish Pub wins "First Place" in the Woodsmen's Day Parade!
What a wonderful surprise...We entered into the Humor category and won!
Thanks to Bruce, Trish, Meredith, Carol, Rita, Jeannie, Theresa, Randy and Kody for your participation!
Also a thank you to Carlos and Jon at Don Scammell for their support of Guinness! And Mike for the use of your flatbed. After all, we are the only place in town with Guinness on tap!
Great fun!
2. Music plans ... Friday, August 15th 7pm - 10pm "Aiseiri Productions" Mark your calendar for our first authentic Irish band playing here at the pub. Aiseiri is from Lake Placid and plays throughout the Tri-Lakes. More to come...Friday, Sept. 26th - Jamie Savage

3. Summer Drinks Specials ....
Purrfect - Pink Lemonade (Rachel's specialty)
P-2's Famous Blue Margarita's
P-2's Black & Tan w/ LongTrail and Guinness

4. Happy Hour Everyday from 4-6pm...grab your friends and come on down...or stop in after dinner for a visit! We'd love to see you!

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts & prayers for P-2. He is one determined individual and getting stronger everyday. Can't wait until he is back on his stool visiting with everyone. He says hello to all!

Look forward to seeing you soon!
Your Friends @ the Pub!

May 9, 2008

The WCS' Adirondack Loon Conservation Program's "winter" newsletter, just in time to greet the loons returning to Adirondack lakes. We have already received many reports of loons back on their territories, including some of our banded friends. We hope you will have the opportunity to see them this summer too!

The results of our 2007 Annual Loon Census will be posted to our website, www.wcs.org/adirondackloons in the very near future.

We are also honored to be included in PBS' documentary - The Adirondacks - which will air on May 14, from 9-11pm! We are looking forward to seeing this beautiful film, exploring the history, nature, and people of the Park.

March 24, 2008

Press Release Contact Howard M. Fish hfish@wildcenter.org The Wild Center

NEW YORK STATE’S WILD CENTER WILL BE SITE OF MAJOR CLIMATE CONFERENCE ON CUTTING U. S. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Tupper Lake, NY - New York State will be the site of a major conference to identify actionable solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Scheduled for June 25^th and 26^th in the Adirondack Park, the Conference will convene business leaders and experts on climate change economics, carbon finance, selected emissions sectors, and the carbon sink in the United States. Participants are also expected to produce a slate of possible policy and regulatory options to overcome market and other barriers that are inhibiting implementation of substantial low-cost greenhouse gas emission reductions.

“We know ways exist to materially cut greenhouse gas emissions. What we do not yet know is the policy and regulatory framework that can kick-start these solutions so they take hold across the U.S. economy,” said Conference Co-Chair Carter Bales. Mr. Bales was a member of the McKinsey & Company team that recently published the report Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost?, which identifies ways to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by up to 28 percent with positive impact on the U.S. economy. Additional cuts are available at relatively low cost (ranging up to $50 per ton of CO2 equivalents saved). “We finally have the facts in hand to move against greenhouse gas emissions in an economically sensible way.” said Mr. Bales, “Achieving these reductions at the lowest cost to the economy will require coordinated economy-wide action, which is why we are assembling this group of climate leaders to work on the task.”

The Conference is by invitation only, and will be limited to 125 participants. “Many past conferences have focused on identifying the problem and its causes,” said Ross Whaley, the other conference Co-Chair. “This is not another of those conferences. This conference centers on finding the U.S. solution.” Robert Socolow, the Princeton University physicist and co-director of the University’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative called the planned gathering, “a serious opportunity to prove we can start to get ideas into the market. We are going to go beyond the theory that this will work, and into the reality of making it work.”

Judith Enck, New York State’s Deputy Secretary for the Environment is also expected to attend. “New York has long been a leader in protecting the environment,” said Ms. Enck. “This Conference is going to look at the most cost-effective ways we can bring real reductions in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions based on serious and thorough research. We are especially interested because the conference will focus on ways we can reduce emissions in a way that will create net economic benefits.”

Conference organizers said New York State provides an ideal venue for the national conference in part because the state has offered to help advance a slate of pilot projects designed to test certain of the recommendations that might arise from the conference.

More than 70 major businesses and organizations are scheduled to participate. Businesses slated to date to participate include AES Corporation, Brookfield Power, General Electric, McKinsey & Company, National Grid, Honeywell, Bovis Lend Lease, (one of the world’s biggest project management and construction companies), Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum (the world’s largest architectural firm), and Credit Suisse Capital Markets. Conference partners include among others New York State, the New York Academy of Sciences, The National Geographic Society, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Yale School of Environment and Forestry, the US Green Building Council, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the American Museum of Natural History.

"Holding this conference in the Adirondack Park is no accident. It will bring together people from around the nation to a place where New Yorkers have taken leadership positions on many critical environmental issues over the years,” said New York State’s DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis. “Moreover, the Adirondack Park reminds us what is at stake if we fail to curb greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Conference will be held at The Wild Center www.wildcenter.org in Tupper Lake. The new museum complex was recently awarded a Silver LEED certification from the US Green Building Council. It was the first museum in New York to be certified and the first building in the Adirondack Park.

“The Wild Center is dedicated to the future of the Adirondacks,” said museum president Donald Clifford Jr. “Science is telling us we have a problem in our near future, while experts tell us we have solutions that can mean economic opportunity. The Wild Center cares about the future of the Adirondacks for all its residents and visitors, so being the catalyst for a conference looking at how we can help people and nature achieve a better balance is something powerful that we can do to fulfill our mission.”

The Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, responsible for one out of every six protected acres park-wide, will offer attendees from outside the region tours of protected areas in the Adirondacks the day after the Conference. “It’s an excellent opportunity to take in this great, largely intact forested landscape, and to get a feel for on the ground conservation work that anticipates needs for species to move upslope and or northward in response to a changing climate,” said Mike Carr, executive director of the Adirondack Chapter.

For a list of conference advisors and participants and more information about the Conference, please refer to the Conference website: www.usclimateaction.org.

For information on the McKinsey Report, Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost? see the McKinsey Special Climate Change Initiative at: http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/greenhousegas.asp

Sara Tagliarino stagliarino@wildcenter.org Marketing Manager/Buyer THE W!LD CENTER

Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks 45 Museum Drive Tupper Lake, NY 12986-9712 518-359-7800, ext. 103

March 13, 2008

News from the Adirondack North Country Association

Nadia Korths, Crafts Program Coordinator for the Adirondack North Country Association, would like to inform our business members they may be interested in Buyer Days, a 22 year old trade show featuring regional North Country producers of rustic and nature-theme home accessories, crafts, foods, prints, books, photography, music and furniture. There is a link on the Buyer Days page to forward it to your favorite shopowner.

Visit http://www.adknccrafts.com/buyerdayslist.php for Buyer Day exhibitor descriptions. Vendor show specials, best sellers and new product lines are highlighted.

ANCA looks forward to meeting new and returning shop-owners at Buyer Days! The show is on Wednesday, April 2 (12-6) and Thursday, April 3 (10-4), 2008 at the City Center, Saratoga Springs, NY.

February 12, 2008

The Wild Center gains national recognition from U.S. Green Building Council

With the assistance of Judith Enck Deputy Secretary for the Environment representing Governor Spitzer's office, and USGBC Upstate NY Executive Director Tracie Hall we received our LEED Silver award in a well attended press conference February 8th. Acknowledgment by the local and national news outlets have been positive and generous. Thank you to everyone who made this award possible!

National Coverage

Local Coverage

Radio

February 11, 2008

JOIN OPERATION SAFEGUARD

The New York State Office of Homeland Security in conjunction with law enforcement agencies throughout New York State, is reaching out to businesses, organizations, and communities to create a better public awareness of potential terrorist indicators and suspicious activities. This outreach promotes the recognition and reporting of potential terrorist activities within the community to the New York State Terrorism Tips Hotline @ 1-866-723-3697. Additionally, businesses and community organizations will benefit from this outreach as they are provided with ways in which they can better protect themselves against loss resulting from potential terrorist and other criminal activity.

NY-ALERT is subscription-based. If you wish to receive emergency information, you must register on the NY-ALERT website at http://www.nyalert.gov. Your email address will be your identifier. When you register, you will be permitted to list up to three phone numbers where you will receive the alerts, up to three email addresses, and one SMS device. Remember, you will receive information on all of the devices you registered when an alert is issued for the area to which you subscribed. You also will be able to select the locations from which you want to receive the information: your town or village, county, regions of the State or the entire state itself. However, if you select a large geographic area, you will receive all of the alerts, press releases and other information regarding those areas. While NY-ALERT will transmit information almost instantaneously utilizing all gateways simultaneously, there is no 100 percent guarantee that the information will be received in a timely manner because the existing third party infrastructure may be unavailable (such as SMS, faxing and phone lines).

Be Prepared Receiving emergency information is an important step to being prepared as an individual, a family and a community. Just as important is knowing what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. In addition to receiving emergency information through NY-ALERT, two actions that you can take to become better prepared to protect yourself and your family are to develop an emergency plan and prepare a portable cache of emergency supplies that can be used at home or at work. Learn about your community’s emergency plans that are in place and how you will be notified of an event. Emergencies may strike when you and your family members are away from home, so learn about plans at your workplace, school or anywhere else you and your family spend time. Remember the special needs of your family members. Infants, the elderly, and persons with disabilities need the same planning as everyone else, and sometimes a little more to be prepared for an emergency. Make plans now on what to do with your pet in the event you have to leave your home. Pay attention to the news. Know your local radio and television stations that can provide you with up-to-date information during an emergency. Be aware of your surroundings. Report any out of the ordinary occurrences to the appropriate local law enforcement authorities or call the New York State Homeland Security Tips Hotline at 1-866-SAFE-NYS For more information on what you and your family can to do be better prepared, visit the website of the New York State Emergency Management Office at http://www.semo.state.ny.us http://www.nyalert.gov New York State’s All-Hazards Alert & Notification System

February 02, 2008

Adirondack Club and Resort and the re-opening of Big Tupper

* As of 02/2008 The project is still under adjudicatory review. The parties have just agreed to a mediation process. It's been a year now and no work has yet to be discussed concerning the ten issues raised by the Adirondack Park Agency. Below is the Park Agency press release from last February of 2007.

February 09, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Further Information Contact: (518) 891-4050 Keith P. McKeever, Public Relations, Raybrook, N.Y. - Adirondack Park Agency Board votes unanimously to provide comprehensive review of the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort Project.

At Thursday's Adirondack Park Agency meeting the Regulatory Programs Committee accepted Park Agency staff's recommendation to hold an adjudicatory hearing for the proposed resort - residential project, "Adirondack Club and Resort."

The Regulatory Programs Committee accepted the recommendation after two days of presentations and discussion. Issues identified as reasons to proceed to an adjudicatory public hearing were based on the following criteria:

• Size and complexity of the project;

• Degree of public interest in the project;

• Presence of significant issues relating to the criteria for approval of the project;

• Possibility that the project can only be approved if major modifications are made or substantial conditions are imposed;

• Possibility that information presented at a public hearing would be of assistance to the agency in its review; and

• Extent of public involvement achieved by other means.

The proposal involves 6,236 acres and would result in the construction of 387 buildings and 759 residential units. Infrastructure costs were estimated at $45 million for wastewater, water, roads and electric infrastructure and $600 million in value of residential units. The board indicated the scale of the project could have potential impacts to community character, quality of life, need for local government services and create possible public vulnerability.

The committee vote was unanimous and the recommendation was forwarded to the Full Agency for deliberation at Friday's meeting.

On Friday, February 9, the Full Agency voted unanimously, after careful deliberation, to send the Adirondack Club and Resort project to an adjudicatory hearing. The agency hereby orders this matter to public hearing pursuant to Section 580.3 and directed the following issues be considered at the adjudicatory hearing:

Issue #1. Is the natural resource protection (including visual, forest resources, habitat and other natural resource considerations) implicit in Resource Management land use area adequately protected (section (805(g)(2)); are the proposed Great Camp lots “substantial acreage...on carefully and well designed sites.” Are there alternatives, and if so, what are the relative impacts on these resources.

Issue #2. What are the impacts of the Orvis Shooting School activities on the noise levels, existing and as proposed; are there alternatives or conditions which would address those impacts; are there any associated effects on water quality or traffic on Lake Simond Road.

Issue #3. What are the impacts of the proposed East Ridge, upper portions of the West Slopeside, and the Westface developments on the existing land topography, vegetation and soils; will the development as proposed cause excessive stormwater run off, erosion and slippage in these areas; what will be the visual impacts during the day and night of these proposed sections.

Issue #4. What impacts does the proposed on site sewage treatment facility at Lake Simond have on neighboring water bodies.

Issue #5. What are the fiscal impacts of the project to the governmental units should any phase or section of the project not be completed as proposed; what is the public vulnerability should the project either fail or not proceed at its projected pace relating to on and off-site infrastructure for which cost-sharing has been proposed between the developer and local governments (e.g. drinking water plant improvements, road maintenance)or on-site private infrastructure that may be subject to eventual operation by the Town; what is the ability to provide municipal and emergency services to any section in light of the road design or the elevation (e.g., East Ridge booster pump station).

Issue #6. Section 805 (4) requires the consideration of the burden on and benefits to the public. What are the positive and negative fiscal impacts of the project to the governmental units? What are the impacts of the project on the municipalities’ electric system ability to meet future demand? To what extent will energy conservation mitigate demand impacts? What are the assumptions and guarantees that the Big Tupper ski area can be renovated and retained as a community resource; what are the current and expected market conditions relating to available housing for the project’s workforce; what are the impacts of the proposed project on the local housing market?

Issue #7. What are the impacts, alternatives and appropriate conditions on the use of Forest Preserve such as State facilities in Intensive Use areas?

Issue #8. Are there alternatives to minimize interference with wetland values and functions including ground water infiltration, wildlife habitat, stormwater control and other values, and the need for mitigation in the areas of Cranberry Pond wetland complex, the marina, and the base lodge footprint?

Issue #9. Are there undue adverse downstream stormwater impacts associated with the base lodge subcatchment area? Specifically, the water quantity components (i.e., overbank flood and extreme flood) included in the stormwater pond designs.

Issue #10. What are the appropriate mechanisms to coordinate and ensure project compliance with application commitments and permit conditions as the project is undertaken over time?

The Adirondack Park Agency will now begin the process of scheduling the adjudicatory hearing. It is anticipated the hearing will begin before March 20.

This type of hearing provides the permit applicant; the public, neighbors, local government, other involved state agencies and Agency staff an opportunity to present evidence and to argue contested issues before an impartial hearing officer. The resulting record, including the permit application, public comment, exhibits, testimony and written submissions from participants in the hearing, provides the sole basis for the Adirondack Park Agency Board's final determination on this proposed project.

The adjudicatory hearing includes four components:

1) pre-hearing conference which initiates the hearing;

2) an informal session for unsworn public comment on the record;

3) the formal hearing at which evidence is advanced and testimony accepted for the record and

4) the closing argument and/or briefs.

The pre-hearing conference provides an opportunity to identify “parties” to the hearing, issues to be adjudicated and other procedural matters. At the informal session, any member of the public is invited to speak or ask questions of the applicant.

The length of the adjudicatory proceeding depends upon the number and complexity of the environmental and legal issues, the number of witnesses, the result of the pre-hearing direction of the Agency and the deliberation before the hearing officer at the issues conference.

An independent hearing officer will be assigned to oversee the adjudicatory proceedings. The role of the hearing officer is to do everything necessary to assure that the hearing is fair and impartial, as well as efficient and orderly. Specifically, the hearing officer is responsible for the following:

• Initiate the hearing with a conference to establish parties, issues and initial hearing schedule

• Administer oaths or affirmations

• Set/adjourn hearing dates and schedule for testimony and argument

• Rule on all motions and requests until the close of the hearing

• Issue, quash or modify subpoenas for the appearance of persons or the production of documents

• Admit or exclude evidence offered for the record

• Limit the number of witnesses and cross-examination

The Adirondack Park Agency Board will ultimately render final decision on whether or not to approve the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort project. Their decision will be based solely on the hearing record. The hearing record will include the transcripts of the hearing, the application, all exhibits as admitted to the record by the hearing officer, any letter, petitions or comments, stipulations and the briefs filed by parties and the Agency hearing staff during the hearing and any determinations of the hearing officer. The hearing record is closed upon the receipt at the Agency of the full transcript, and briefs or any documents the parties agreed to submit at the hearing, whichever occurs later.

The Adirondacks Under Glass by Caleb Kenna for The New York Times

By Lisa W. Foderaro Published: July 7, 2006

The Great Hall at the museum in Tupper Lake, N.Y.

FROM space, the Adirondacks at night appear as a black void amid a sea of glittering lights. Established more than a century ago, the six-million-acre Adirondack Park — a mix of public and private lands roughly the size of Vermont, with huge stretches of wilderness — has grown ever more remarkable as development has fundamentally altered much of the Northeast.

With hundreds of lakes and seemingly endless mountains that support bears and moose, alpine tundra and centuries-old trees, the Adirondacks can generate the same rush of wonder that the West does — a dizzying appreciation of time and space. But apart from the backcountry hiker or expert naturalist, few visitors come to know the Adirondacks in any meaningful way.

Now, with the opening of the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, there is a chance to grasp the science behind the scenery: the complex relationships underpinning a wilderness landscape that is also host to humans.

The museum, nicknamed the Wild Center, opened on Tuesday, the $30 million brainchild of a former New York State environmental employee with deep family roots in the Adirondacks. It marries stunning design, paying homage to the great-camp vernacular with local stone and timber, and an educational philosophy that seeks to inject science with sizzle through high-tech multisensory exhibitions.

The museum sits on 31 acres, part of which functioned years ago as a gravel mine, a fact that the founders felt good about because it meant not having to disturb a pristine environment to construct their building. A trail wends gradually down to the Raquette River, with two attractive lookout points, and a staff naturalist is available to lead museumgoers on guided walks.

Visitors enter via the Great Hall, a nine-sided space studded with nine birch trees. Directly ahead is a wall of glass overlooking an artificially created pond and wetland. In an opening ceremony, the pond was stocked with brown trout, rainbow trout and painted turtles. (Gov. George E Pataki and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton released one each.) Even before opening day, however, another painted turtle had wandered in on its own and was seen swimming the pond.

THE museum is not large compared with the Adirondack Museum 30 miles to the south in Blue Mountain Lake, which has 22 buildings and focuses on the human history of the Adirondacks. But the natural history museum makes an ideal companion to the older institution and is smartly laid out, taking visitors on a stimulating tour of the natural characteristics of Adirondack landscapes, from bogs to trout streams to mountain summits.

A living river exhibition runs along one wall. It begins with a trout pool and then turns into a lower trout stream, then an upper trout stream and then a plunge pool before finally culminating in a waterfall where river otters cavort over faux boulders. An exhibit about marshes presents snapping turtles, smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch and pumpkinseed sunfish. Psychedelically hued wood ducks and giant waterbugs are on their way.

There are so many live creatures — 75 species will be represented — that the center almost feels more like a mini-zoo than a museum. Children are allowed to touch. They can dip their hands in the river exhibition, which includes a shallow tank with rocks, tiny fish and tools in front of a large aquarium containing rainbow trout.

At the marsh exhibition, there is a whimsical keyboard that enthralled my 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son. Each key made a different animal or insect sound, from the haunting vibrato of the loon to the whine of the mosquito. Their duet was surprisingly jazzy, thanks to the bass note of a bullfrog. "You can play your own natural symphony," a staff biologist, Leah Filo, said.

The architect, the St. Louis-based firm of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, has festooned the museum with huge, color-saturated nature photographs, along with projected images. There are also quotations worth pondering, blown up and illuminated, like one from Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814): "Nature is one connected whole. At any given moment every part must be precisely what it is, because all other parts are what they are."

The managing director, Elizabeth M. Lowe, who worked in public affairs for the state's Department of Environmental Conservation for almost 20 years, conceived of the museum in the late 1990's. Her family's ties to the Adirondacks go back 100 years. Her great uncle owned a resort on Long Lake, and she has a remote cabin there, accessible only by boat.

Ms. Lowe was fascinated by the forces of nature in the park, which showed their power in a "microburst" windstorm in 1995 that felled and injured trees over more than 400,000 acres and an ice storm a few years later that damaged a million acres. Those events inspired educational displays that she created while working at the state agency. "The Adirondacks is such an incredible place, with so many unique natural features," she said "It struck me that we needed our own natural history museum."

She capitalized on two decades of professional contacts with environmentalists, sportsmen and political leaders, making 200 phone calls to anyone who might have an opinion on the potential for a museum.

The first fund-raising effort, a simple letter offering membership in a museum that existed only in theory, brought in $500,000. Eight years and more than 5,000 donations later, the museum has raised about $30 million (about a third of it from government sources), a staggering amount in a region that still has pockets of poverty despite the affluence of some of its second-home owners.

"The most important thing about the Adirondacks is the fact that it is the world's best model for humanity and nature living together," said Donald K Clifford Jr. (a k a Obie), the president of the museum's board. Mr. Clifford, a Westchester County resident and former member of the American Museum of Natural History's executive committee, owns a house on Big Wolf Lake, a private association created by his grandfather in 1916.

The exclusive association, with only 31 members, contributed $5 million to the museum project, an act of generosity that earned it a weighty plaque embedded in the floor of the Great Hall, which is dedicated to Big Wolf Lake.

The outpouring of support reflects the deep affection of residents and visitors for the Adirondacks, as well as concern for its future. Acid rain has taken a toll on the scenic lakes, and the park's growing popularity has translated into a spike in homebuilding on property that was previously untouched.

The successful fund-raising also enabled Ms. Lowe and her team to execute their vision with first-rate talent and sumptuous building materials. In a corner of the museum called the Naturalist Cabinet, which is the equivalent of a discovery room, floor-to-ceiling shelves are fashioned from satiny birch and cabinets have wrought-iron drawer pulls shaped like twigs.

This is where museumgoers of all ages are encouraged to slow down and probe the natural world more deeply. There are taxidermy specimens, bones, plaster-cast animal tracks, pelts, microscopes, scientific literature, children's books, games and puzzles. There are even art supplies in case anyone has an urge to capture the tranquil pond outside the window.

One educational game called "Guess What I Ate?" explores scat, or, as Lisa Rodriguez, a naturalist, translated for my children, "animal poop." Children read clues like this one: "I live in an evergreen forest. I eat plants and bark from high up in trees. I'm an herbivore." They then try to identify the animal, in this case a porcupine, and find its scat from a box of realistic-looking rubber models.

The museum is still a work in progress. Landscaping work remains to be done around the building and the wetland. And some of the exhibitions were still awaiting animals as the museum officially opened.

But the contents of the museum are perfectly complemented by the trail leading down to an oxbow in the Raquette River, where ruby-throated hummingbirds moved silently among birch trees, Scotch pines and meadowsweet. Brad Donahue, one of the museum's naturalists, pointed out the flute-like refrain of a wood thrush in the distance.

By the river, all seemed still. A green frog peered out from the muddy bank. Two dragonflies mated. A pumpkinseed sunfish guarded a nest she had carved in the river bed. Whirligig beetles skated between lily pads, and white admiral butterflies flitted around us. All seemed still, that is, until we really looked.

If You Go

The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (518-359-7800; www.wildcenter.org, informally called the Wild Center, is at 45 Museum Drive in Tupper Lake, N.Y., about a 300-mile drive north of New York City. To reach it from Interstate 87 (called the Northway north of Albany), take Exit 30 and turn left on Route 73 toward Lake Placid. Stay left at the fork a few miles before Lake Placid, taking Old Military Road, which ends at Route 86. Turn left onto Route 86 West, toward Saranac Lake, and merge with Route 3 at the first light. Continue on Route 3 to Tupper Lake. As you enter Tupper Lake, turn left on Hosley Avenue. The museum entrance is on the left.

The museum is open daily except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and two weeks in April. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer and fall and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday from Columbus Day to Memorial Day. Admission is $14 for adults, with discounts for children and people over 65

Health Insurance News

Support During Tough Times by Sharry Schrader
Essex County Business Council
Ph: 518-523-2445 Ext. 153 Fax: 518-523-2605
Email: ecbc@northcountrychamber.com
Web: www.goessexcounty.com

Hospice programs can help patients and their families cope with end-of-life care.

Despite the amazing advances in modern medicine, not all diseases can be cured. There comes a time when treatment is no longer an option. Doctors must step aside and let palliative, or end-of-life, are take over. That’s where hospice can help.

Hospice care is special treatment for someone who is terminally ill. Patients can spend their last days with loved ones in their own homes or a homelike setting. Hospice care ensures that the patient feels no pain and he or she is never alone.

Care and comfort are provided by family members, friends and professional caregivers, not hospital staff. Your doctor, nurses and hospice staff oversee everything.

Because caring for someone who is dying is emotionally and physically demanding, social workers are available to help provide emotional, spiritual and social support. Trained volunteers can help with housework, cooking and running errands.

Hospice can improve the quality of life for the patient and family during these difficult but unavoidable times. For more information about hospice services please contact your local hospice organization or talk to your doctor directly.

Tupper Lake Renaissance

MAJOR PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHES DRIVE TO PRESERVE AND
ENHANCE RAIL IN THE ADIRONDACKS

* The new governor has been in office for a year now and there has been no clear communication concerning the status of the $5,000,000 dollars to upgrade the rails from Saranac Lake to Tupper Lake. The funding that was promised by the Pataki Administration has not yet come through from Governor Spitzer.

In April of 2006 more than forty key interests came together at the Saranac Lake train station to launch a major advocacy campaign on behalf of rail service in the Adirondacks.

The Adirondack On Track Partnership called for critical new investment by the State of New York in the Adirondack rail line from Remsen, near Utica, to Lake Placid, guaranteeing its future preservation and opening the door to potential new services. Specifically, the Partnership is targeting the Transportation Bond Act approved by state voters last fall. There is unallocated funding in the Bond Act for upstate rail projects, and the

Partnership is pointing to the Adirondack line as an important target for those available funds.

Currently, the line supports tourism train services between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake and one in the Thendara area. The Lake Placid operation needs to be extended from Saranac Lake to Tupper Lake to fulfill its potential, making the run longer while also adding one of the most scenic stretches of railway in the entire Adirondacks. The tri-lakes have been pointing to Tupper Lake service as a way to promote area tourism by linking the three villages and all of their attractions, including the new Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks and other developments in Tupper Lake. Next Stop Tupper Lake is a grassroots initiative which is already raising funds to build a new station in the village in anticipation of restored service, demonstrating local commitment.

The Partnership is supporting the rehabilitation of the Saranac Lake-Tupper Lake segment as a first priority, but is also seeking the repair and rehabilitation of the entire line, all the way to Utica. They note that it is the only surviving line into the central Adirondacks and its tourism destinations, and holds the potential for other future passenger and tourism services if it is preserved. If restored to acceptable levels, it could also accommodate freight shipments to existing companies such as Jarden Plastic Solutions in Tupper Lake and support other economic development efforts, reducing the need for costly truck movements.

The Adirondack On Track Partnership believes timing is critical, both because of the current availability of rail improvement funds as a result of the Bond Act and because the railway is deteriorating and could be lost forever if it is not saved now. This would include losing the benefits of the $12 million committed by Governor George Pataki several years ago to rebuild the Lake Placid-Saranac Lake segment.

The Partnership is requesting that the State Transportation Department embrace the rehabilitation of the Adirondack rail line as the rail priority for the Adirondack-North Country region and start efforts this year to design and begin a comprehensive rehabilitation project. The overall project should start with the Saranac Lake-Tupper Lake stretch as the first priority, given its severely deteriorated condition and the immediate benefits which will result from its restoration. It is estimated that rehabilitation of the entire line from Remsen to Lake Placid will cost approximately $20 million, of which $6.7 million is required for the Tupper Lake segment.

The Partnership characterizes this effort as a strategic investment that will preserve rail access in the Adirondacks for decades to come, while failure or delay will cost the region a key piece of transportation infrastructure which can never be replaced.

The Adirondack On Track Partnership has been organized by the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce along with the Tupper Lake Chamber, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber and the Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau. Its current membership, which is continuing to grow each week, includes State Senators Betty Little and Raymond Meier, State Assembly Members Chris Ortloff, Teresa Sayward and Dierdre Scozzafava, the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), the Franklin County Legislature and Essex County Board of Supervisors, the Adirondack Council, the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages, all of the tri-lakes local governments, and area business, economic development and tourism groups.

For more information: Sharry Schrader at the Essex County Business Council Ph: 518-523-2445 Ext. 153 Fax: 518-523-2605 Email: ecbc@northcountrychamber.com Web: www.goessexcounty.com