Your Award-Winning News Source for the Upper Delaware River Valley Region Since 1975
Vol. 42 No. 40
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OCTOBER 6-12, 2016
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www.riverreporter.com
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$1.50
Bungalow colony voters stricken from rolls BOE received 132 absentee ballots By FRITZ MAYER
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ONTICELLO, NY — A group of voters who registered in 2015 to vote in the Town of Thompson, and who gave addresses of bungalow colonies as their Sullivan County homes, have been deemed not eligible to vote in the county by Judge Michael McGuire. There were 132 such voters in total, and McGuire’s decision, which was handed down in August of this year, applies to 126 of those registrant voters. Most of the challenged voters listed bungalow colonies, which are closed or boarded up for the winter season, as their local homes and asked for absentee ballots to be mailed to a post office box in Thompsonville rather than sent to their homes in New York City where many of them live. The post office box is associated with the manager and the owner of the Raleigh Hotel. A lawsuit challenging the voters was brought by Scott Mace, who ran a successful re-election campaign for a seat on the Thompson Town Council in November 2015. Of the 132 challenged voters, 126 did not appear or have an attorney appear on their behalf to oppose the challenges. Only six of the 132 chose to oppose the challenge to their registrations, and they are represented by attorney Henri Shawn. Mace is represented by attorneys David Holland and Gail Rubenfeld. Litigation regarding those six registrations is ongoing. It is well-established that people who own second
TRR photo by Jonathan Fox
Balloons over Jeffersonville J
EFFERSONVILLE, NY — According to the website www.eballoon.org the first hot air balloon ride took place in France in 1783, but there were no humans on board. The first passengers to soar aloft below a huge hot bag of air were a sheep, a duck and a rooster, and the flight lasted for 25 minutes. According to the website “The first manned attempt came about two months later on 21st November, with a balloon
made by two French brothers, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. The balloon was launched from the centre of Paris and flew for a period of 20 minutes. The birth of hot air ballooning.” Jump forward 230 years and the technology makes an appearance in Jeffersonville; although the weather kept most of air ships grounded. For more on the day turn to page 31.
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PARENTS: Stories
CURRENTS: Honeybee Fest
on parents, children and more
in Narrowsburg Saturday
15
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SPANNING 2 STATES, 4 COUNTIES, AND A RIVER THAT UNITES US