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THIS WEEK Warrensburg ....................2-7 Opinion ..........................6-7 Thurman ........................7-8 Lake George ......................9 Outdoor ..........................12 Calendar ........................13 Winter Sports Preview......18-26 Week in Sports................27 Classified........................28
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December 5, 2009
All’s quiet
Fake buck
Winter Sports
The controversy at Countryside has subsided for now.
Hunters who want to shoot from the road are wasting their rounds on robo-deer.
Check out all the previews for your local winter sports teams.
Page 10
Page 5
Pages 18-26
County votes ‘Yes’ on sales tax hike proposal County budget hearing set for Dec. 10 By Thom Randall thom@denpubs.com
See TAX HIKE, page 9
Serious Personal Injury
Tom Apple (right foreground) serves up a slab of turkey for grandchild Kylee, 5, during the Apple family’s annual gathering for Thanksgiving in their Warrensburg home. Thursday, more than a dozen of the family members attended, including six of Tom and Linda Apple’s eight children. For holiday celebrations, the Apples routinely prepare and serve up two turkeys and gather around several tables for the crew. Ready to dig in are (seated, left to right): Marc Apple, Linda Apple, Zachary Apple, 6, and (standing): Jeremy Apple, Andra Leigh Apple, Jeffrey Apple Christopher Apple, and Maria and Michael Apple. Photo by John Lustyik
Tradition reigns during Christmas in Warrensburgh fest By Thom Randall thom@denpubs.com WARRENSBURG — The annual Christmas in Warrensburgh celebration, embracing traditional values as well as fun activities for all ages, is set for this weekend.
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Event founder Teresa Whalen said it’s been heartwarming to be involved with the event for more than two decades, watching the sparkle in children’s eyes and the beaming expressions on adults’ faces as they participate in the holiday fun. “This long-standing tradi-
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QUEENSBURY — After hearing that Warren County was in dire financial condition — with cash reserves considered the third worst in the state — county supervisors voted Monday to ask the state Legislature to allow them to raise the sales tax from 7 to 8 percent for a two-year period. The vote, with only six supervisors voting “No,” took place after about two hours of impassioned debate. Supervisors heard from county leaders and a financial advisor that bond rating officials were meeting this week, and the county’s credit rating was likely to be lowered due to the county’s depleted cash reserves. The vote did not include restrictions on how the extra sales tax revenue — anticipated to be up to $15 million per year — would be spent, but county leaders said after the vote that it would be first allocated to wiping out a looming 9.3 percent tax increase, then be applied to restoring the county’s fund balance. These cash reserves, they said, were spent in prior years to keep tax increases artificially low in the face of ballooning expenses. The 2010 county budget, totalling about $148 million, is subject to a public hearing 7 p.m. Thursday Dec. 10 in the Supreme Court chambers at the county Municipal Center. Supervisors said they’d entertain comments at the hearing on the proposed sales tax hike, as well as the county’s financial condition and pending budget. County leaders said that the lack of a financial cushion, combined with the 2010 budget gap of well more than $3 million, and a looming cashflow shortfall, prompted them to vote for the sales tax increase, which many of them formerly opposed. Queensbury At-Large Supervisor William VanNess, who changed his mind this week and decided to vote for the tax hike, said that without a sales tax increase, county property taxes in Queensbury would soar 24 percent. "I will take the stone throwing," he said of potential outcry from his constituents. "I will stand up for what is right." Regardless of the wide margin in the vote, the
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