That sound you heard coming from Klinkhart Hall?
It might have been the champagne popping.
Friday, the Village of Sharon Springs learned it’s been awarded a $1 million grant from Round XIV of the Regional Economic Development Council on behalf of the non-profit Klinkhart Hall Arts Center.
The grant, written by Executive Director Marc-Anthony Polizzi, will be used to help make Klinkhart Hall handicapped-accessible, something KHAC President Maureen Lodes said will make them eligible for additional grants.
The $1 million brings the total grants awarded to KHAC to about $2.5 million, most of them in reimburseable or matching grants.
The total cost of the phased ...

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The unveiling of a grant program that could transform Cobleskill will take place next Thursday, the 23rd.
Cobleskill Partnership Inc., the downtown improvement group, will explain the Lee-Hodge Community Grant program, which will provide funds to businesses, homeowners and not-for-profits for years to come.
Open to the public, the meeting will be at the Cobleskill Firehouse at 6:30pm.
The Sterling Insurance Company Foundation last month gave $100,000 to CPI, and CPI will provide grants from the interest earned from the invested donation.
“The Sterling Foundation is incredibly generous, and we’re truly grateful for what they’ve done,” said CPI’s Chris Guldner, who’ ...

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Following a months’ long investigation, a Blenheim man was arrested Thursday on menacing and weapons charges.
State Police out of Princetown arrested Christopher C. Brewer, 47, for:
• Disseminating indecent material to minors in the first degree.
• Endangering the welfare of a child.
• Criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.
• Menacing in the second degree.
• Reckless endangerment in the second degree.
On November 8, 2023, State Police of Princetown received information that an adult man was having inappropriate communications with a child. The investigation determined that over the course of several months in 2023, Brewer allege ...

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A single-story home on Franklin Bellinger Road in the Town of Seward was badly damaged and an attached wood shed destroyed in a fire Saturday afternoon.
Firefighters at the scene said the blaze at the home of Jim and Gretchen Becker began in the woodshed, but it’s unclear how it started and the cause is under investigation.
Heavy black smoke could be seen from miles around as dozen of firefighters fought to keep the flames under control.
Water was hauled to the scene from a pond at the Sherman farm on Slate Hill Road.
Franklin Bellinger Road is a narrow lane that loops to Route 145 south at the Town of Seward and Sharon town line.
Firefighters from both Sch ...

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Middleburgh Central School is gearing up for an $8.1 million Capital Project it plans to take to voters in May.
The work will tap into MCS’s $2 million capital reserve and state aid, Superintendent Mark Place said Wednesday, which means there will be no increase in taxes.
Assuming voters approve the project—Phase 1 of two—bids would go out a year from now with work beginning in the summer of 2026, Mr. Place said.
Estimates for the needed work came in significantly higher than initially expected, he said; that’s the reason MCS plans to break it into two phases.
Phase 2 would come in 2031 or later, once they’ve had a chance to rebuild the capital reserves.
Work ...

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