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Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
''\y*--,-t <•''!• ?^';^;r^;:ivv:r.*>'*--:-i'^vty^^/-^/>t*!.~v^V; / 2 22£«4.ai 1 ' WITII 'III''THITTTW'|K •^w^woziVWqNVTMacnifK) NO. 23 - THURSDAY; DECEMBER 25,2008 For 124 years Albany County's independent newspaper •..•'•'.;\';:'- : v ';^;'::.;., V';^;-'' ••'•'•'' 'Tte^teipnse —Michael Koff Christmas Earrels: Despite cold temperatures and high winds on Monday, Brian Karrel and his 3-year-old son, Logan, made the most of Sunday's snowfall, sUdding at the wihUr recreational ' Report clears In fatal accident, why was seat belt Undone? By Melissa Hale-Spencer Nearly two years after a men- tally retarded woman died fol- lowing a car accident, the state's oversight agency found \the circumstances of this death ... did not suggest any deficiencies in the care provided.\ Mabel Speanburg, a 60-year- old mentally retarded woman who lived in a New Visions group home, died on Nov. 8, 2006, two days after suffering an accident in a New Visions van. She was on her way from the New Visions day facility on Krumkill Road to a group home on Rapp Road in Guilderland. \It remains undetermined as to how Ms. Speanburg's seatbelt became unfastened,\ according to an Aug. 25, 2008 letter sent by Rene L. Paluba, an investigator with the state's Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, to Andrew F. McKenzie, executive director of New Visions. McKenzie did not return calls from The Enterprise this week. \It is our understanding that, following this misfortune, Van Safety Assessments were imple- mented for inclusion in consum- er's Individual Plans of Protec- tive Oversight*\ the letter goes (Continued on Page 8) rsr W£Q #«ties for $2111 By Saranac Hale Spencer GUllDERI^D —TW6 years after a nationwide raid, Houston- based IFCO has agreed to a $20.7 million settlement, the largest of its kind to date. , If the company fully complies with the terms of the settle- ment, the United States Attorney for , New York's North- ern District won't pursue corporate criminal charges against IFCO. Inearly2065,U.S. Immigration and Customs. Enforce- ment got a tip that workers at the IFCO site in Guilderland's Northeastern In- dustrial Park were tearing up their W-2 forms, which prompted an inves- tigation that led to the April 2006 raid. Federal and state officers searched more than40 IFCO sites in 26 states and arrested several management-level employees and apprehended 1,182 employees who were working illegally ?We were at, work; it was a nationwide raid; all the factories \We clearly don't want to see that en again, were raided...They took me to an immigration center. I don't know the area, so I don't know where it was* said a man from Honduras who had worked at the Guilderland site when he spoke to The Enterprise soon after the raid, \We were treated well; no one resisted __;_ and everyone was treated good...We don't know how long we have to wait but we have to wait until'the fac- tory lets us back,\ Most of the work- ers were probably deported, Mike Hachtman, IFCO Systems North — America's, senior vice president, told TheEnterprise this week. The company now employs about 4,000 people in North America, he said> most of who work on pallets.-JFCOreconcli- tions wooden pallets and distrib- utes them to manufacturers and retailers —r it claims ll-per$jtit of the market share in the United States. . r (Continued on Page, 9) Setting an example for the nation? RMlle wants to draft wind-power law that will promote community ownership By Zach Simeone RENSSELAERVILLE — In the wak& of failed attempts by Shell WindEnergy to line the crest of the Helderbergs with mammoth wind turbines, the town passed a wind-power moratorium, and has begun assembling a wind-power com- mittee. At its Dec. 15 meeting, the town board appointed Rensse- laerville resident Noel Abbott as the head of a team that will help the town draft wind-power regulations before its morato- rium expires in May. As head of the committee, Ab- bott is responsible for seeking out, candidates for the wind- power team an.d recommending them to the town board. Abbott does not have the power to ap- point those candidates to the committee, however. : \The town board has to ap- point them,\ said Supervisor Jost Nickelsberg. \[Abbott] is the driver, so hell get the committee moving and coming up with solutions. The hope is that we can put up something we would own, something that would be a win for the town.* The six-month moratorium was approved at a Ndy. 13 meeting, and filed with the New York Department of State on Dec. 3. Abbott has a background as an organizational development consultant. While working at United Research in the 1970s and '80s, he did strategic plan- ning, team building, conflict resolution, and executive coach- ing for Fortune 500 companies, he said. \I did solo projects, and I also worked as a member of a team,\ Abbott said this week. United Research has since merged with The Mac Group to form Gemini Consulting. '''.','...' Abbott also teaches yoga at the studio on his property. Passionate about wind In November, Abbott sub- mitted a proposal to the town board, in which he volunteered to chair a wind-power commit- tee, should the board choose to create one. I'm passionate about wind power, but I avoid the term 'alternative energy,\' Abbott tojd\ The Enterprise,. \The term 'alternative energy* Was coined by the oil and gas companies to basically marginalize what really should be mainstream energy, ana has been sup- pressed for some time. There's a structure there that's almost invisible^\ hie said. His passion for renewable energy, Abbott said, has to do with freedom and civilization. \Right how, there is a handful of global organizations that (Continued on Page 11) H Opinion Page 2 News Page 6 Community Calendar Page 16 Classifieds Page 24 Sports Page 25 8 | W27912 ,l 03045\ll7