The Altamont Enterprise

Tuesday 21 May

Laurel Dover Searle

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Eye of The Hawk

young coopers hawk img 5974-web The Enterprise — James E. Gardner
On the lookout: This Cooper’s hawk recently perched near the bird feeder at a Knox home, was not looking for sunflower seeds. The strong reddish-orange around its pupil means this bird is a juvenile; the eye turns to full red in adults. The pronounced white in the feathers is another indication of a young bird.

Hilltowns

Strong roots, no nests for elderly

Details: Published on Monday, 20 May 2013 15:31

By Marcello Iaia

HILLTOWNS — A spate of housing developments targeted to people over 55 has spread through Albany County in the past decade, with the Hilltowns now poised to hear about two — in Knox and Berne.

For Linda Carman, who serves on an advisory board for the county’s Department of Aging, the timeless importance of location in real estate holds true for people facing fixed incomes, and changing health and lifestyles.

She volunteers with the Hilltown Seniors and has been a strong advocate for housing for elderly people on the Helderberg escarpment ever since her mother was in a Guilderland nursing home where she died in 2001.

“People stop me when they see me outside and they say, ‘When is that senior housing going to be done?’” said Carman.

Developer Jeff Thomas said Wednesday his site plans and elevations will be ready within 90 days. Years ago, he purchased land on Canaday Hill Road, just outside of the Berne hamlet, to build apartments designed for seniors.

Democratic majority on Berne Town Board passes resolution against SAFE Act process

Details: Published on Monday, 20 May 2013 15:27

By Marcello Iaia

BERNE — A fourth Hilltown resolution on the state’s gun-control law was passed at the Berne Town Board meeting on May 8 calling for more public comment.

The Berne resolution urged the state legislature to hold public hearings on the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, as did a resolution passed in Knox last month. The SAFE Act was passed and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo one day after it was introduced in January, when the governor issued a Message of Necessity that waived a three-day review period.

Westerlo and Rensselaerville passed resolutions in recent months declaring the law a restriction on the right to bear arms and calling for it to be repealed.

Passed in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., the SAFE Act bans assault weapons with at least one military feature and requires current owners to register such guns in a statewide database. It further limits magazine capacities, strengthens punishments for gun-related crimes, and requires mental health professionals to report patients they deem dangerous, among other regulatory measures.

Bonnie Conklin, the one Republican among Democrats on the Berne board, cast the only opposing vote. The other resolutions on the SAFE Act passed unanimously in the Hilltowns.

Albright hopes felony will be reduced

Details: Published on Monday, 20 May 2013 15:29

By Marcello Iaia

BERNE — The felony case of teenager Harold Albright III was postponed until June in Berne Town Court Tuesday.

Albright and his mother, Mary Miesowicz, who was charged with two misdemeanors, both had pleaded “not guilty,” she said.

Albany County Sheriff’s deputies had arrested them in March after an 18-year-old police described as Albright’s girlfriend told police she had been punched and choked by Albright as Miesowicz was driving from the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Albany.

Albright’s attorney, Jeffrey Richards, Albany County assistant public defender, requested on Tuesday that the “felony control meeting” for Albright be rescheduled.

Westerlo drills for views on fracking

Details: Published on Friday, 10 May 2013 20:06

By Marcello Iaia

dsc07359-web The Enterprise — Marcello Iaia
Going forward: William Bichteman, a Westerlo Town Board member, addresses the gallery during the May 7 meeting. Board member Alfred Field, right, chaired the committee that produced a report now being reviewed by the town board on the gas-drilling process of hydraulic fracturing. Residents asked when the public would be able to review and comment on the report. Field said the 151-page report would be available after the board accepts it. “If you’re going to have a referendum, you have to define it. That part is the public hearing,” Bichteman said. “The public is not going to edit that document.”WESTERLO — As the state continues to delay approval of regulations for hydraulic fracturing, an Appellate Division court decision earlier this month has said town bans on hydrofracking are not pre-empted by state law.

A year after the Westerlo discussed a committee to research the process of extracting natural gas, town board members Tuesday had a report in their hands meant to be a reference for the town’s stance on the issue.

Against this backdrop, the Westerlo board, which, like other Helderberg Hilltowns, is located over Marcellus shale, had a meeting Tuesday with second guesses from the gallery.

Gerard Boone, a member of the planning board and Gas Drilling Investigation Committee, said at the town board meeting Tuesday he didn’t think the committee was run properly and three members never saw the final report.

“No, not after it was all, shall we say, organized, but, all the information, everybody saw,” said Alfred Field, a town board member.

‘Ratty’ shoes, unconquerable soul

Details: Published on Friday, 03 May 2013 18:01

By Marcello Iaia

dsc06698-web The Enterprise — Marcello Iaia
A gift among many: Sandra Kisselback holds a pair of sneakers purchased with money given to her by workers at her dialysis center. Kisselback, who was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1992, works at the sawmill started by her father, Rudy Stempel, who she says demonstrated tenacity.BERNE — Instead of “problems,” Sandra Kisselback prefers the word “challenges.” She works at the Stempel Saw Mill, her family’s enterprise that has endured despite heavy snow that collapsed a roof, a broken motor too costly to repair, and a stubborn recession that has cut back on construction.

“I don’t get all worked up about problems, because they’re temporary,” says Kisselback. She is sitting on a grayed picnic table outside of the Stempel home where the smell of fresh lumber is carried by the chill spring winds. Kisselback, 55, wears a white sweatshirt spelling out the name of the mill and her father — Rudy — in fabric paint. A pair of black and white sneakers is placed beside her.

Kisselback was diagnosed with kidney disease when she was in her thirties. With her kidneys unable to fully remove wastes, minerals, and fluids from her blood, she has had different forms of dialysis since, and had a kidney transplanted from her brother, Brian Stempel, that lost function after nearly 12 years.