The best source for local news from Marbletown, Rochester & Rosendale
Published the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month | Vol. 27, Issue 14
What a headache ...
July 15, 2022 | $1.00
First aid squad needs taxpayer support No debate at Rochester public hearing Ann Belmont BSP Reporter
Willa's cone of shame: This local bear unfortunately has a chicken feeder stuck on her head. Doughnuts: Delicious goodies that are put in the trap by NYDEC to catch a hungry Willa. The bear photos were captured by security camera footage.
Willa’s unbearable cone of shame Thomas Childers BSP Reporter The BlueStone Press received a reader photo from Julie Puppolo recently that showed a bear with a chicken feeder stuck on its head. Puppolo introduced us to Kristie L Hendricks-Davis, who has been working with the DEC on helping this bear remove the chicken feeder. Hendricks-Davis reached out to the DEC, and they came out to set up a bear trap on her property with delicious bait to attract the bear that she has named Willa. Hendricks-Davis decided to name the bear Willa after she tried Wilbur (the name of a beloved horse) but found out through the DEC that the bear was female. Hendricks-Davis mentioned that she plans on
More visitors than ever at the D&H Canal Museum PAGE 4
getting a tattoo of Willa pictured with the feeder on her head. Having the bear trap on her property has been “a little like having an infant,” she said, due to her waking up whenever her security camera gets tripped by anything as small as a moth, or by larger animals like a particular raccoon that Hendricks-Davis has named Sid. Sid keeps getting trapped while gorging himself on Willa’s bait. In the event of an animal getting trapped in the device (like Sid did multiple times) meant for Willa there is a loud steel clang, and Hendricks-Davis comes out, releases the animal inside, and resets the trap for Willa.
See Bear, page 14
There are only two townships with all-volunteer rescue squads left in Ulster County. The Kerhonkson-Accord First Aid Squad (KAFAS) is one of them, but that's about to change. On July 7, the Rochester Town Board hosted a public hearing so people could comment on the proposal for a Kerhonkson-Accord ambulance district funded by an annual tax to town property owners. The amount of that tax, town supervisor Mike Baden explained before opening the hearing, would be about 20 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, which translates to $50.21 for a house worth $250,000 (the average home value in the district). “That’s essentially a dollar a week," said Baden. "This would allow the KAFAS to contract for paid service for the hours they have difficulty getting volunteers.” First to speak when the floor opened for comment was Charles Nerko of the KAFAS. “If you call 911 because you or a family member is in need of emergency medical care, there’s a ... chance our squad would not be able to show up. That’s not the plot to a horror movie – that’s the state of KAFAS today ... Tonight, We're calling 911! We’re asking you to help us. The lives of your neighbors are at stake. With the proper investment in EMS, we are going to make Rochester a safer place to live." KAFAS has traditionally been an all-volunteer unit. Every one of the squad is a certified EMT, which takes “several hundred hours” of training. “It’s a lot to ask of people in the community," who also have full-time jobs. Paid staff could cover gaps in the schedule at times when volunteers are at work or otherwise unavailable. Beyond the need for paid staff, Nerko said, was the need for supplies and updated equipment for the ambulance. He used the example of a school shooting, where fatalities are often from blood loss. “If there’s a mass shooting we are prepared to go in there with law enforcement and stop as many people as possible from bleeding to death," but currently one of the volunteers buys tourniquets out of her own money, because they’re not in the budget. "We have the training and knowledge but not the equipment” to save lives, he said, holding up an antiquated-looking device that shocks a heart back into beating if it stops. “Look at this. This is almost as old as the cardiac patients we treat!” Then he wheeled out a stretcher to show the
Parking problems in High Falls PAGE 6
The Kerhonkson-Accord First Aid Squad on Route 209
audience. “This model is so old it is no longer supported for repairs, even out of our own pockets,” said Nerko. He said that they have to call the fire department for some of their patients because the stretcher’s not adequate. He also said they need a mechanical “thumper” to perform CPR on patients. Currently, “we are not part of the town (government). We are funded as a first aid squad, neighbors helping neighbors. We’re an independent charity, a nonprofit organization ... We only get insurance reimbursement when we take calls. In a rural area like this, we don’t have the call volume to maintain expenses based on insurance recoveries alone. Our biggest expense is remaining in a state of readiness. Without [the town’s] investment in EMS, our squad will go insolvent and close in 2023… We hesitate in asking for your help, but it’s necessary in order to continue having a community ambulance service.” Next, former board member Bea Haugen-Depuy quoted from Town Board meeting minutes in order to show that, including grant money, $144,000 had been budgeted for the emergency squad this year. “Where is the $144,000?” she asked. Baden answered that the KAFAS couldn't receive the money until they signed a new contract (something confirmed by the town's lawyer, Marylou Christiana). Haugen-Depuy called this “holding them hostage to a contract. Shame on you ... This town has always paid for EMS, and this board has seen fit to hold up this mon-
See First aid, page 8
Sticker shock PAGE 3