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May 28, 2011
Local sports. See page 29
Veterans groups to honor fallen soldiers
LGCS board to resubmit budget for second vote
By Thom Randall
thom@denpubs.com
thom@denpubs.com LAKE GEORGE — Following a trouncing at the polls last week and a contentious public meeting held Monday, May 23, the Lake George Central Board of Education has decided to trim its proposed 2011-12 budget of $20.5 million by about $192,000 and resubmit it to the voters in late June. The board decided to make these further cuts to reach the amount of spending equal to a statemandated contingency budget that would be imposed if the voters reject the spending plan again like they did Tuesday May 17 by a gaping and unprecedented 389-911 margin. After a number of residents urged the board to cut spending in a public meeting May 23, the board convened at 7 a.m. Tuesday May 24 — a time that irked some audience members — and identified areas of the budget likely to undergo cuts. Although several local residents urged the board to negotiate with the school faculty to accept a temporary reduction in raises or to boost their contribution to their
WARRENSBURG — In recent days, hundreds of people have been visiting cemeteries throughout northern Warren County, decorating gravesites of loved ones, and many are placing flags at memorials to veterans. In a matter of days, countless other area residents will see the results of their work. Across the county this weekend, local citizens and visitors will be gathering along sidewalks to witness the pageantry and patriotism of Memorial Day parades, then attend accompanying ceremonies that honor U.S. soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the nation. Most all these parades and services are to be held Monday May 30, except for the ceremonies to be held in Lake George on Saturday May 28. In Warrensburg, the annual parade, which includes Thurman citizens, forms at 8:30 a.m. Monday may 30 at the Warrensburg Fire Co. firehouse on Elm St. The procession begins at 9 a.m. See MEMORIAL DAY, page 11
In preparation for Memorial Day, Scott Brown mows the grass at the Warrensburg Cemetery. Photo by Thom Randall
Warrensburg teen memorialized in ceremony Relatives: suicide is no answer By Thom Randall
thom@denpubs.com WARRENSBURG — With somber faces, about 50 friends and relatives of Courtney Mae Swinton — a local teenager who took her own life last year — listened May 18 as the girl’s mother, Evie Swinton, stepped up before them to talk about her daughter ’s death and the deep grief it prompted. “On Feb. 20, 2010, I got the most horrific phone call a parent can get,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes, shaded by sunglasses. “I didn’t believe, or even understand the call when I got it — my daughter had taken her life.” The dozens of people were gathered for a memorial ceremony for Courtney, held on the grounds of Warren County Cornell Cooperative Extension on Schroon River Road. The ceremony included planting a Japanese lilac tree memorializing Courtney, as well as relatives and friends describing the girl’s character, and her vivacious, friendly, peace-loving nature. But Evie Swinton’s words propelled the ceremony further — to achieve a broader purpose.
See BUDGET VOTE, page 11
THIS WEEK Warrensburg ..........................2-4 Bolton ......................................5 Regional ..............................8-9 Thurman ..................................10 Lake George ............................14 Sports ......................................15 Calendar................................17 Classified ..............................18
Courtney Mae Swinton Nov. 15, 1991 — Feb. 20, 2010
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She said she is seeking, in Courtney’s memory, to help spare other area families from experiencing such awful anguish, by urging parents and friends to reach out to troubled teens, and establish heart-to-heart bonds. Also, she stressed to youth that suicide offers no solution. “I urge parents to look beyond their child’s words — look for behavior, for clues that something is not right,” Swinton said. “And be open to your child; listen to them without judging them, so they will turn to you when they need to.” She also said that her daughter ’s suicide had changed her life radically, and plunged her into grief that hasn’t receded with time. “Not only did I lose Courtney, I lost myself, my family and my friends, because I have closed myself off from them,” she said, noting that almost all her time is now spent shut in at home. “I do not feel I have the right to be happy — laughing and living without my daughter,” she added, noting that suicide prompts deep pain in loved ones. “Young people who are stressed, please turn to someone you trust for help — a friend, relative, teacher, pastor, anyone,” she continued. Evie Swinton’s friend, Jamie Thackrah-Harris,
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