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Saturday,ÊD ecemberÊ17,Ê2016
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In Features | pg. 2
Sounding off on holiday rush
Champlain Centre workers share challenges
www.SunCommunityNews.com
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In DISCUSSION | pg. 14-15
Boreas Ponds
Environmental groups speak out
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In NEWS | pg. 3
North Country nets $61 million Award to fund infrastructure projects
North Country Veterans Association nets $100K state grant Funds will allow nonprofit to move forward on planned expansion project By Pete DeMola
pete@suncommunitynews.com
PLATTSBURGH — A large state windfall means a local veterans organization can get started on the second phase of their planned expansion project. The North Country Veterans Association received a $100,000 grant last week from the state’s regional economic development council program. The funds will be used to expand and renovate their existing building on Town Line Road. Renovations will add offices, a food shelf storage room, computer server space and a curation area for historical arti-
facts, including what officials estimate is the largest collection of military war books north of Albany. For Secretary Ken Hynes, the welcome news is a long time coming. “We’re totally stoked. We’re very proud and glad the regional economic council saw merit in our project,” Hynes said. The organization comes from humble origins, having started out of a van in 1978 with the mission of serving veterans in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties. Following its incorporation in 1983, public and private donations allowed the organization to purchase about 9 acres on which the nonprofit constructed a 1,500-square-foot building. Chief among their mission statement is to inform vets on Agent Orange, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic
Photo provided
>> See Veterans Association | pg. 8
OutsideÊA rtÕ s
North Country
fifth mural
educators converge
for CFES summit
Organization to collaborate with local students to create new piece of artwork at Plattsburgh Public Library
PLATTSBURGH — As part of their ongoing quest to make Plattsburgh an arts destination, Outside Art will team up with the Plattsburgh Public Library next year to create their fifth public mural. This time, the mural will be interactive. Elizabeth The library and Outside Art will partIzzo Writer ner with “Adirondack P-TECH, the physics department from the college and a lot of robotics teams” to realize their vision, library director Anne de la Chappelle told the city council on Thursday. According to Julia Devine, of Outside Art, the mural will be designed by Sue Burdick-Young, involve “hundreds of community members,” and be inspired by “Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt” by local author Kate Messner. The mural will also incorporate 3D printed marble raindrops powered by solar energy that will “circulate the perimeter of the mural, representing the rain cycle,” according to Devine. Adirondack P-TECH and other student groups will collaborate to “figure out” the interactive portion, primarily “how to get marbles from eight feet in the air to sprinkle down the wall and look like rain,” Chappelle said.
The North Country Veterans Association has received a $100,000 grant from the state’s regional economic development council program. The funds will aid in a planned expansion project.
CFES in Essex hosted a well attended conference, looking to improve mentoring, internships for local students By Kim Dedam
kim@suncommunitynews.com
The Plattsburgh Public Library will be the site of the city’s fifth mural. Photo by Elizabeth Izzo
This would likely coincide with the library’s ongoing plans to plant more flowers on the exterior of the building, creating a kid-friendly corner garden space, according to Chappelle. “The plan was that that green space would tie in with the mural.” In October, Outside Art completed a months-long collaboration with the North Country Food Co-Op to create a mural featuring the work of local artist Gharan Burton. The Co-op mural was the newest in a series of works the group has helped create, including the Mountain Lake Mandala and Battle of Plattsburgh commemoration on City Hall Place, and the “Woods and Wild Things” mural on Court Street. According to Outside Art, the new mural will be unveiled in July of next year.
PLATTSBURGH — Discussion of college and career readiness brought businesses, colleges and high school teachers together under one roof last week. College For Every Student hosted an all-day brainstorming session they titled “Building College and Career Connections for Rural Students.” The conference drew 12 North Country schools, eight colleges and four corporate employers to CFES conference facilities on Main Street. For Sue LaPierre, a teacher at Plattsburgh High School, the message from businesses and college recruiters was very similar. “I’ve always been a proponent of a four-year degree,” she told the Sun. “But I’m finding that there is a great need for two-year programs that prepare students to be ready to work.” High school requirements for college and for career train>> See CFES Summit | pg. 8