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Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
l^p^^^^^^^^^^l^^pflp§ 14'. if- I Ft III Pi It If I* Jf •ft. DO NOT CLIP ANYTHING from newspapers. This is defacing library property, and anyone found doing this will be held responsible for the cost of the items defaced. ********************************************** •-w m No. 5 • THURSDAY, AUGUST 24,2006 For 122 years Albany County's independent newspaper *<-™:ywn%.;w-?piij VCSD continues with two ciitil suits tachel Dutil VOOEBfEESfItLE - The Voorheesville Central School District has now spent over $100,000 in its attempt to recoup $216,000 from two former school officials. The district is continuing on with its two civil suits - one against its former superinten- dent, Alan McCartney, and one against its former assistant su-. perintendent for business, An- thony Marturanp. The two men were accused by the state comp- troller in January of \inappro- priately\ paying themselves the money. The Albany County Dis- trict Attorney found there was no basis to prosecute the retired administrators and said the school district's \weak internal ; «c6ntrols are what likely led to the problems.\ .-,•'••. Several citizens voiced theifv*§| disapproval^oygr, the; ongping^^te gal proceedings during:*l'af^ week's school-board meet|ttg./j& recent investigation by 'The. En* terprise uncovered that the disr trict has an insurance policy that protects it from \errors and omissions.\ In a memorandum from cur-, rent Superintendent Linda Langevin to the school board, (Continued on Page 8) Ketchum 's former employees claim By Saranac Hale Spencer ALTAMONT — Fallout from a change in management at a local landmark — a convenience store and gas station — sparked con- troversy this week: An exodus of long-time Ketchum's employees following Fair Week has left the store un- derstaffed, with a \help wanted\ sign posted on the door. Em- ployees say that they were fired; the new management says that the employees quit. Additionally, a former Ketchum's customer has claimed that the new store was selling crack pipes last week. This August marked Stacy Delligan's 10 th year working at the local convenience store, she said. As of Tuesday, she no longer works there. After the new owners fired many of her co- workers earlier this week, she quit, said Delligan. (Continued on Page 6) The Enterprise — Tim Matteson A young girl from Ballston Spa runs with the football in the Pop Warner Challenger League for handicapped kids Friday at Nott Road Field in Guilderland. The league began in East Greenbush and now teams have formed in Ballston Spa, Guilderland, and North Colonie. Kids hit the field, leave handicaps behind By Tim Matteson GUILDERLAND — As usual in the late summer, the land- scape of the Nott Road Athletic Fields was filled with kids play- ing football. But the landscape was slightly altered on a beautiful early Fri- day evening. Instead of Mighty Mites and Junior Midget teams dressed in full pads banging heads on the field, there were kids in Wheelchairs and parents or sibling^ wearing flags. The Pojty Warner Challenger Football Ij<3agjie made a stop in Guilderlftrijcl on Friday. The pro- gram, Wmch began in East Greenbush and has garnered national attention, is now thriving in the Capital District. This was the first game in Guilderland. There will be games in Ballston Spa and North Colonie in the coming weeks along with the regular games every week in East Greenbush. \I love football,\ said Emilio Genzano whose son Joey and wife Jill played in the game. \My dream is for my kids to play. This is one way that they all can.\ Genzano had a big part in bringing the game to Guilder- land. He is the president of the Guilderland Pop Warner and he and his family have taken part in the Challenger games for the last three years. Genzano's old- est son, E.J., plays in the Pop Warner and was the referee for one of the older-aged Challenger games, while his family played. \I love it,\ E.J. Genzano said of the Challenger games. \It's is really helping him. It brings out the whole family and we spend the day together. We are down here four days of the week.\ \Open to everybody with disabilities\ The Challenger League is in its fourth year but hasn't been affiliated with Pop Warner that long. The Genzanos 1 have been involved in the league for three years. (Continued on Page 26) Empire Zone expansion in Cj*land By Jarrett Carroll GUILDERLAND — The town can now increase its tax base with industry while avoiding re- zoning and citizen protests. The office of Albany County Executive Michael Breslin an- nounced state approval on Mon- day for an Empire Zone expan- sion to Railroad Avenue — an aptly named road that runs through the towns of Colonie and Guilderland, and the city of Albany. This newest expansion brings the county's total to nearly four square miles of the state's busi- ness incentive program. An Empire Zone expansion into Guilderland's Railroad Ave- nue could or could not have posi- tive economic impacts for the town, but either way, the poten- (Continued on Page 10) Taxes less than predicted for GCSD By Melissa Hale-Spencer GUILDERLAND — Tax rates will be lower than was predicted when voters went to the polls in May to pass a $79 million Guild- erland school budget. Guilderland residents will pay $18.93 per $1,000 of assessed value. That means the owner of a $200,000 home will pay $3,786 in school taxes this year. This is an increase of 58 cents or 3.13 percent over last year. The district had, in May, esti- mated a tax hike of 4.2 percent. The district had to make a last- minute adjustment — 4 cents more per $1,000 — on the newlj calculated rate. Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders told the school board last Tuesday that Carol Wysomski, Guilderland's assessor, was notified of a new state mandate that very day. The mandate requires special fran- chise assessment, such as for National Grid, Verizon, and fiber optic companies, to be valued at the current equalization rate, not at full value. In die past, Sanders related, the franchises were included on the tax rolls at 100 percent or full value. For 2006-07, the state-set equalization rate of 84.12 percent for Guilderland must be applied to the special-assessments, lower- continued on page 9) 1 Inside this week's edition starting on page.... Opinion News l Pa fl B6 l f i|i|n|ttf^|fy Calendar Ifee-i*! Classifieds \*&n\ Sports fpii^s WX;,f 'M •&•>#. ifdSl^iS ^.iS&U--; ^fc^V'.-aU oWvJk Jfe s^gffiL'.