Podcasts about Sullivan County

Sullivan County Sheriff Mike Schiff sits down with Host Dylan Price to discuss a number of pressing topics in the county including policing in the Village of Monticello, a recent report of a loaded gun being found in the county jail, and how he and his office approach community outreach. All that and more in this Catskills News Conversation.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

No Kings protests held nationwide this weekend, including in Sullivan County. Plus, a weapons arrest in Ellenville and the county treasurer warns of a sales tax revenue dip and potential implications. All that and more on Catskills News.

Derek Ferland, Sullivan County Manager, is here as we talk about Discover Sugar River Region, the Rail Trail Rendezvous, progress on the Nurisng Home, how far the County has gone in 8 years, and more.

Sullivan County urges businesses to place Naloxboxes to fight opioid overdoses. Plus, the Sheriff's office details more about saving a woman from jumping off a bridge over Route 17 and Rockland CSD Superintendent steps down to head into retirement. All that and more on Catskills News.

NYS Senator Peter Oberacker Formally Announces Bid to Run for U.S. Congress. Plus, the Sheriff's office stops a woman from jumping off a bridge, and Wheel The World is coming to Sullivan County. All that and more on Catskills News.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Sullivan County announces four welfare fraud arrests. Plus, Mayor Adams out of NYC mayoral race and Assemblymember Kay announces $100k grant. All and more on Catskills News.

NYS sending out inflation refund checks. Plus, Bold Gold Media announces purchase of two new stations and Sullivan County opens submissions for their fall foliage exhibit. All and more on Catskills News.

Gail McWilliam Jellie is here to talk about the Sullivan County Farm Days, happening this Saturday and Sunday, all over the county.  There will be 13 different farms on this tour, open for all to visit.  We mention all the farms, what to expect, how the lack of rain has been, and lots more.

Sullivan County deemed, "fiscal stress free," by New York State. Plus, fallout continues from legislature's battle over housing project, and Ellenville Regional opens new urgent care.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland is here as we talk about the Nursing Home renovation, County land, the apple press, Discover Sugar River Region, and lots more.

Sullivan County gathers to remember the 24th anniversary of September 11th. Plus, the SC Republican Party pays tribute following the loss of Charlie Kirk. All that and more on Catskills News.

TOMORROW MORNING: Hunger Action Month is underway, find out how you can get involved right here in Sullivan County. Plus, County Coroner warns of a new drug on it's way to the states according to the DEA, and Sullivan 180 crowns theHealthiest Fire Department winners. All that, and more on Catskills News.

The Sullivan County broadband project clears another hurdle. Plus, the latest on a Wednesday evening fire, and Monticello Fire Department celebrates 150 years!

Nearly 900,000 New York City public school students return Thursday under a new statewide cellphone ban signed by Governor Hochul last spring. Meanwhile, an analysis commissioned in Sullivan County says new casinos in New York City could undercut existing gaming operations in the Catskills. Plus, former Bronx Republican district leader Nicole Torres has been sentenced to two years in prison for pocketing kickbacks from potential poll workers.

On this morning's Catskills News, schools across Sullivan County are back in session and local officials are preaching school bus safety. Plus, the NYS Cellphone ban has begun across the state, hear more on Governor Hochul's goals with it's implementation.

PBoard of Director for Sullivan County Humaine Society, Chad Blodgett is here as we talk about the shelter, how to adopt a cat, what is needed, the fundraisers they are doing and lots more.

Ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day, Sullivan County Health & Human Services Commissioner John Liddle joins Mike Sakell for a conversation on the Drug Task Force and to detail the county's fight against the Opioid Crisis. That and more on the latest episode of Catskills News Conversations.

In an exclusive interview with Host Dylan Price, NYS Assembly Member Paula Kay sits down with Dylan in studio to discuss a number of hot button issues facing Sullivan County and the Catskills. NYSEG rate hikes, all-electric regulations, healthcare shortages, and more are discussed. Plus, Paula breaks down her first 10 months since she was elected and talks more about her background.

Sullivan County's Republican Committee Chairman Greg Goldstein sits down with Host Dylan Price to discuss Senator Oberacker's recent award. Plus Greg gives his evaluation of the national, state, and county's performance in the 2025 year so far.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland is here as we talk bout progress with Discover Sugar River Region, the new guide that is out for the region fromYankee Magazine, the energy project in Sullivan County, Nurising Home updates, budget, and lots more.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

In this episode: Historic Hurdles in Bethel ‘Terrific turnout' at Tusten Heritage Day The traveling art of Drag Queen Story Hour What's the cause of Liberty's 17.59% tax hike? Sullivan County, Archtop Fiber celebrate broadband project No Kings march hits Broadway OSI preps Keriland Property for potential public access Woody the Bear withdraws — Now his successor needs a name

In this episode: Sullivan County communities honor fallen heroes on Memorial Day Communication breakdown sparks tension at Fallsburg Town Board Monticello adjourns PUD public hearing to June 18 Sheriff's Office warns of AI scam targeting residents

In the wake of 5% cuts in the new state budget, the University of Southern Indiana is considering raising its tuition. And Hallador Energy is putting plans for a Sullivan County data center on hold after a developer backed out of a deal.

Joe is here as we talk about being allergic to diet soda (and other diet stuff), trying to drop pounds, the Democratic listening session in Newport tonight, the Sullivan County budget, taxes, different plates you can have on your vehicles, and more.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Julia's Local is a garden--to-table restaurant serving rustic American cuisine withulia's Local is a garden--to-table restaurant serving rustic American cuisine with a Scandinavian twist. Located in Round Top (Greene County), NY. After a multi-year building renovation, the restaurant was opened about four years ago. Three of the key forces behind the restaurant joined Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley to talk about the restaurant and how they bring fresh produce to their patrons every day. Julia Joern has lived in Round Top since 1999. Her background includes architecture, design, and public relations. She purchased the building that houses the restaurant in 2019, initially for a boutique company that organized public and private programs, and was the host of 'Hudson Valley Work of Mouth', a radio show on WGXC/90.7 FM interviewing creative people throughout the Catskills, Hudson Valley, and Capital Region. She loves working with creative people who know how to make 'something' from basic materials. Chef Henning Nordanger is a native of Bergen, Norway. Escoffier-trained, he gained experience working in large hotel restaurants and mountain resorts throughout Norway. A quarter of a century after arriving in the United States, he worked in New York City in restaurants and as a private chef. He moved to Sullivan County in 2006 and after a stint as a carpenter, opened and ran his first restaurant. Henning's Local (Sullivan County) between 2012-2024. He has developed long-time relationships with many regional, sustainable agricultural businesses throughout the Catskills and the Hudson Valley. 'Tractor Dan' Hartquist, a fruit and vegetable farmer originally from Columbia County, moved to Round Top once he bought a house in Greene County. Purely by chance, he met with Julia and Henning, and the rest is history! There is a wonderful collaboration between Henning and Dan selecting what to grow to enhance the menu in the restaurant. Using organic practices, they continually try new produce yet need to balance the new with some of their standard fare. If there is extra, they package offerings that can be purchased retail. But their produce is always picked the same day so everything is at its peak of flavor.. Learn about the history of this restaurant, the backgrounds of the individuals involved, and how they create a menu from what the garden produces throughout the year Your taste buds will waken hearing about their eggplant parmesan tomato soup, and tomato salads, Hosts: Tim Kennelty and Jean Thomas Guests: Julia Joern, Henning Nordanger, and Dan Hartquist    Photo by: Julia's Local Production Support: Linda Aydlett, Deven Connelly, Teresa Golden, Taly Hahn, Tim Kenelty, Amy Meadon, Xandra Powers, Annie Scibienski, Eileen Simpson, Robin Smith Resources

Derek Ferland, Sullivan County Manager, is here as we talk Discover Sugar River Region, bringing people to the area, the County Manager's office moving to Unity and lots more.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Sheriff Jayson Almstrom is here with Det Eric Bates discussing The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program here in Sullivan County, the 3 new hires, what ICAC is locally and nationwide, how internet crimes against children can be local or all over the globe, the ICAC dog and lots more.

Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland is here as we talk about how the snowmobile season was, Discover Sugar River Region, nursing home renovation, moving the County Commissioners offices to Unity, the political environment, and more.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

Sullivan County Fire Coordinator John Hauschild speaks with host Mikd Sakell about the NYS Burn Ban in effect from March 16-May 14 2025.

Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland is here as we talk about the local trails, heading up north on his sled, Discover Sugar River Region, Websites, update on the Nursing Home project, and lots more.

A jury in Sullivan County, Tennessee found Megan Boswell guilty of murdering her 15-month-old daughter, Evelyn Boswell. Evelyn vanished in December 2020. The week-long trial included testimony from Boswell's father, friends and detectives. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at some of the most shocking moments in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/crimefix to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.Host:Angenette Levy https://twitter.com/Angenette5CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Community News and Interviews for the Catskills & Northeast Pennsylvania

We closed the week on 5 Clubs on Golf Channel with Fairways of Life's Matt Adams LIVE from the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando talking about the industry, the equipment, the influencers and the overall economic impact of the game. Writer Tom Coyne also joined the program to discuss The Golfer's Journal, the Broken Tee Society and his course Sullivan County in New York.Gary Williams discussed Justin Thomas' comments on players getting more involved in assisting their broadcast partners, the release of this week's Club Five and the golf dogs of the week.

So if our population isn't growing...why can't we find places to live? In this episode, Leif sits down with Adam Bosch, President and CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, and Vanessa McPhillips, the Director of Strategic Planning at the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, to learn about why abundant and affordable housing feels just out of reach in our community and what's being done about it.To learn more about Sullivan County's housing statistics and strategies, check out the 2022 Comprehensive Housing Strategy here: https://sullivanny.gov/sites/default/files/departments/Planning/Housing%20Strategy/SullivanCountyComprehensiveHousingBook.pdfCover photo credit: Jonathan Fox, River Reporter Newspaper

In this episode: Tragic Murder-Suicide in Mamakating Leaves Three Dead Remembering President Jimmy Carter's Legacy in Sullivan County Sullivan County Housing Market: Prices Surge Amid Declining Sales Sheriff Mike Schiff Seeks Historic Sixth Term Dr. Jessie Moore Appointed as Sullivan County's New Public Health Director 2024 Year in Review: Highlights from a Transformative Year in Sullivan County Monticello Considers Selling Parking Lots to Boost Tax Base Callicoon Chiropractor Dr. Linda Borrelli Retires After 44 Years Catholic Charities Announces 2025 Caritas Award Honorees

State lawmakers are listing education funding as one of their top priorities for the upcoming legislative session. State, local and national partners have teamed up to purchase nearly four thousand acres for a new fish and wildlife area in Sullivan County. Last year, fewer than three percent of full-time workers in Indiana experienced workplace injuries or illnesses, according to a federal estimate. Indiana University aims to be carbon neutral by the year 2040. Want to go deeper on the stories you hear on WFYI News Now? Visit wfyi.org/news and follow us on social media to get comprehensive analysis and local news daily. Subscribe to WFYI News Now wherever you get your podcasts. Today's episode of WFYI News Now was produced by Drew Daudelin, Zach Bundy and Abriana Herron, with support from News Director Sarah Neal-Estes.

Brian Soller has been an active volunteer for the last 30+ years.  He currently serves as  chief of the Rock Hill Fire Department and for the past 19 years has been a New York state fire instructor assigned to Sullivan County, NY.  Soller also served as chief of the Rock Hill Fire Department from 2018 - 2020 and also served as chief of the Monticello Fire Department from 2001-2002.Soller has also been a New York State emergency medical technician for the last 25+ years. He speaks extensively on the promotion of professionalism in the volunteer fire service through his podcast and YouTube channel. Follow us on social @professional.brotherhood @chiefsollerOn the web at professionalbrotherhood.comSend future episode suggestions or comments on past episodes to professionalvff@gmail.com.Interested in being a guest on the show?  Please email professionalvff@gmail.com.Kara Judd, is a eight year member of the Cazenovia Fire Department where she currently serves as a Lieutenant and Emergency Medical Technician. Kara is also a certified Critical Incident Stress Debriefer as well as an AFAA certified fitness instructor and the owner of Saint Florian Fitness. Her full time career is at the Upstate Medical Hospital in Syracuse, NY where she is a Juvenile Fire Setter Intervention Specialist and Burn Prevention Outreach Educator.On social @st.florianfitness

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Nov. 30. It dropped for free subscribers on Dec. 7. To receive future episodes as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoMike Taylor, Owner of Holiday Mountain, New YorkRecorded onNovember 18, 2024About Holiday MountainClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Mike TaylorLocated in: Monticello, New YorkYear founded: 1957Pass affiliations: NoneClosest neighboring ski areas: Villa Roma (:37), Ski Big Bear (:56), Mt. Peter (:48), Mountain Creek (:52), Victor Constant (:54)Base elevation: 900 feetSummit elevation: 1,300 feetVertical drop: 400 feetSkiable acres: 60Average annual snowfall: 66 inchesTrail count: 9 (5 beginner, 2 intermediate, 2 advanced)Lift count: 3 (1 fixed-grip quad, 1 triple, 1 carpet - view Lift Blog's inventory of Holiday Mountain's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himNot so long ago, U.S. ski areas swung wrecking ball-like from the necks of founders who wore them like amulets. Mountain and man fused as one, each anchored to and propelled by the other, twin forces mirrored and set aglow, forged in some burbling cauldron and unleashed upon the public as an Experience. This was Killington and this was Mammoth and this was Vail and this was Squaw and this was Taos, each at once a mountain and a manifestation of psyche and soul, as though some god's hand had scooped from Pres and Dave and Pete and Al and Ernie their whimsy and hubris and willfulness and fashioned them into a cackling live thing on this earth. The men were the mountains and the mountains were the men. Everybody knew this and everybody felt this and that's why we named lifts and trails after them.This is what we've lost in the collect-them-all corporate roll-up of our current moment. I'm skeptical of applying an asteroid-ate-the-dinosaurs theory to skiing, but even I'll acknowledge this bit. When the caped founder, who stepped into raw wilderness and said “here I will build an organized snowskiing facility” and proceeded to do so, steps aside or sells to SnowCo or dies, some essence of the mountain evaporates with him. The snow still hammers and the skiers still come and the mountain still lets gravity run things. The trails remain and the fall lines still fall. The mountain is mostly the same. But nobody knows why it is that way, and the ski area becomes a disembodied thing, untethered from a human host. This, I think, is a big part of the appeal of Michigan's Mount Bohemia. Ungroomed, untamed, absent green runs and snowguns, accessible all winter on a $109 season pass, Boho is the impossible storybook of the maniac who willed it into existence against all advice and instinct: Lonie Glieberman, who hacked this thing from the wilderness not in some lost postwar decade, but in 2000. He lives there all winter and everybody knows him and they all know that this place that is the place would not exist had he not insisted that it be so. For the purposes of how skiers consider the joint, Lonie is Mount Bohemia. And someday when he goes away the mountain will make less sense than it does right now.I could write a similar paragraph about Chip Chase at White Grass Touring Center in West Virginia. But there aren't many of those fellas left. Since most of our ski areas are old, most of our founders are gone. They're not coming back, and we're not getting more ski areas. But that doesn't mean the era of the owner-soul keeper is finished. They just need to climb a different set of monkey bars to get there. Rather than trekking into the mountains to stake out and transform a raw wilderness into a piste digestible to the masses, the modern mountain incarnate needs to drive up to the ski area with a dump truck full of hundred dollar bills, pour it out onto the ground, and hope the planted seeds sprout money trees.And this is Mike Taylor. He has resources. He has energy. He has manpower. And he's going to transform this dysfunctional junkpile of a ski area into something modern, something nice, something that will last. And everyone knows it wouldn't be happening without him.What we talked aboutThe Turkey Trot chairlift upgrade; why Taylor re-engineered and renovated a mothballed double chair just to run it for a handful of days last winter before demolishing it this summer; Partek and why skiing needs an independent lift manufacturer; a gesture from Massanutten; how you build a chairlift when your chairlift doesn't come with a bottom terminal; Holiday Mountain's two new ski trails for this winter; the story behind Holiday Mountain's trail names; why a rock quarry is “the greatest neighbors we could ever ask for”; big potential future ski expansion opportunities; massive snowmaking upgrades; snowmaking is hard; how a state highway spurred the development of Holiday Mountain; “I think we've lost a generation of skiers”; vintage Holiday Mountain; the ski area's long, sad decline; pillage by flood; restoring abandoned terrain above the Fun Park; the chairlift you see from Route 17 is not actually a chairlift; considering a future when 17 converts into Interstate 86; what would have happened to Holiday had the other bidders purchased it; “how do we get kids off their phones and out recreating again?”; advice from Plattekill; buying a broken ski area in May and getting it open by Christmas (or trying); what translates well from the business world into running a ski area; how to finance the rebuild and modernization of a failing ski area; “when you talk to a bank and use the word ‘ski area,' they want nothing to do with it”; how to make a ski area make money; why summer business is hard; Holiday's incredible social media presence; “I always thought good grooming was easy, like mowing a lawn”; how to get big things done quickly but well; ski racing returns; “I don't want to do things half-assed and pay for it in the long run”; why season two should be better than season one; “you can't make me happier than to see busloads of kids, improving their skills, and enjoying something they're going to do for the rest of their life”; why New York State has a challenging business environment, and how to get things done anyway; the surprise labor audit that shocked New York skiing last February – “we didn't realize the mistakes we were making”; kids these days; the State of New York owns and subsidizes three ski areas – how does that complicate things?; why the state subsidizing independent ski areas isn't the answer; the problem with bussing kids to ski areas; and why Holiday Mountain doesn't feel ready to join the Indy Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewI met Taylor in a Savannah bar last year, five minutes after he'd bought a ski area and seven months before he needed to turn that ski area into a functional business. Here was the new owner of Holiday Mountain, rolling with the Plattekill gang, more or less openly saying, “I have no idea what the hell I'm doing, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to save Holiday Mountain.”The National Ski Areas Association's annual show, tucked across the river that week, seemed like a good place to start. Here were hundreds of people who could tell Taylor exactly how hard it was to run a ski area, and why. And here was this guy, accomplished in so many businesses, ready to learn. And all I could think, having skied the disaster that was Holiday Mountain in recent years, was thank God this dude is here. Here's my card. Let's talk.I connected with Taylor the next month and wrote a story about his grand plans for Holiday. Then I stepped back and let that first winter happen. It was, by Taylor's own account, humbling. But it did not seem to be humiliating, which is key. Pride is the quickest path to failure in skiing. Instead of kicking things, Taylor seemed to regard the whole endeavor as a grand and amusing puzzle. “Well let's see here, turns out snowmaking is hard, grooming is hard, managing teenagers is hard… isn't that interesting and how can I make this work even though I already had too much else to do at my other 10 jobs?”Life may be attitude above all else. And when I look at ski area operators who have recycled garbage into gold, this is the attribute that seems to steer all others. That's people like Rick Schmitz, who talked two Wisconsin ski areas off the ledge and brought another back from its grave; Justin Hoppe, who just traded his life in to save a lost UP ski area; James Coleman, whose bandolier of saved ski areas could fill an egg carton; and Danielle and Laszlo Vajtay, who for 31 years have modernized their ridiculously steep and remote Catskills ski area one snowgun at a time.There are always plenty of people who will tell you why a thing is impossible. These people are boring. They lack creativity or vision, an ability to see the world as something other than what it is. Taylor is the opposite. All he does is envision how things can be better, and then work to make them that way. That was clear to me immediately. It just took him a minute to prove he could do it. And he did.What I got wrong* Mike said he needed a chairlift with “about 1,000 feet of vertical rise” to replace the severed double chair visible from Route 17. He meant length. According to Lift Blog, the legacy lift rose 232 vertical feet over 1,248 linear feet.* We talk a bit about New York's declining population, but the real-world picture is fuzzier. While the state's population did fall considerably, from 20.1 million to 19.6 million over the past four years, those numbers include a big pandemic-driven population spike in 2020, when the state's population rose 3.3 percent, from 19.5 million to that 20.1 million number (likely from city refugees camping out in New York's vast and bucolic rural reaches). The state's current population of 19,571,216 million is still larger than it was at any point before 2012, and not far off its pre-pandemic peak of 19,657,321.* I noted that Gore's new Hudson high-speed quad cost “about $10 million.” That is probably a fair estimate based upon the initial budget between $8 and $9 million, but an ORDA representative did not immediately respond to a request for the final number.Why you should ski Holiday MountainI've been reconsidering my television pitch for Who Wants to Own a Ski Area? Not because the answer is probably “everybody reading this newsletter except for the ones that already own a ski area, because they are smart enough to know better.” But because I think the follow-up series, Ski Resort Rebuild, would be even more entertaining. It would contain all the elements of successful unscripted television: a novel environment, large and expensive machinery, demolition, shouting, meddlesome authorities, and an endless sequence of puzzles confronting a charismatic leader and his band of chain-smoking hourlies.The rainbow arcing over all of this would of course be reinvention. Take something teetering on apocalyptic set-piece and transform it into an ordered enterprise that makes the kids go “wheeeeee!” Raw optimism and self-aware naivete would slide into exasperation and despair, the launchpad for stubborn triumphalism tempered by humility. Cut to teaser for season two.Though I envision a six- or eight-episode season, the template here is the concise and satisfying Hoarders, which condenses a days-long home dejunking into a half-hour of television. One minute, Uncle Frank's four-story house is filled with his pizza box collection and every edition of the Tampa Bay Bugle dating back to 1904. But as 15 dumpster trucks from TakeMyCrap.com drive off in convoy, the home that could only be navigated with sonar and wayfinding canines has been transformed into a Flintstones set piece, a couch and a wooly mammoth rug accenting otherwise empty rooms. I can watch these chaos-into-order transformations all day long.Roll into Holiday Mountain this winter, and you'll essentially be stepping into episode four of this eight-part series. The ski area's most atrocious failures have been bulldozed, blown-up, regraded, covered in snow. The two-seater chairlift that Columbus shipped in pieces on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria has finally been scrapped and replaced with a machine that does not predate modern democracy. The snowguns are no longer powered by hand-cranks. A ski area that, just 18 months ago, was shrinking like an island in rising water is actually debuting two brand-new trails this winter.But the job's not finished. On your left as you drive in is a wide abandoned ridge where four ski lifts once spun. On the open hills, new snowguns glimmer and new-used chairlifts and cats hum, but by Taylor's own admission, his teams are still figuring out how to use all these fancy gadgets. Change is the tide climbing up the beach, but we haven't fully smoothed out the tracked sand yet, and it will take a few more hours to get there.It's fun to be part of something like this, even as an observer. I'll tell you to visit Holiday Mountain this winter for the same reason I'll tell you to go ride Chair 2 at Alpental or the triple at Bluewood or the Primo and Segundo Riblet doubles at Sunlight. By next autumn, each of these lifts, which have dressed their mountains for decades, will make way for modern machines. This is good, and healthy, and necessary for skiing's long-term viability. But experiencing the same place in different forms offers useful lessons in imagination, evolution, and the utility of persistence and willpower. It's already hard to picture that Holiday Mountain that teetered on the edge of collapse just two years ago. In two more years, it could be impossible, so thorough is the current renovation. So go. Bonus: they have skiing.Podcast NotesOn indies sticking togetherDespite the facile headlines, conglomerates are not taking over American skiing. As of my last count, about 73 percent of U.S. ski areas are still independently operated. And while these approximately three-quarters of active ski areas likely account for less than half of all skier visits, consumers do still have plenty of choice if they don't want to go Epkonic.New York, in particular, is a redoubt of family-owned and -operated mountains. Other than Vail-owned Hunter and state-owned Belleayre, Gore, and Whiteface, every single one of the state's 51 ski areas is under independent management. Taylor calls out several of these New York owners in our conversation, including many past podcast guests. These are all tremendous conversations, all streaked with the same sincere determination and grit that's obvious in Taylor's pod.Massachusetts is also a land of independent ski areas, including the Swiss watch known as Wachusett:On PartekPartek is one of the delightful secrets of U.S. skiing. The company, founded in 1993 by Hagen Schulz, son of the defunct Borvig lifts President Gary Schulz, installs one or two or zero new chairlifts in a typical year. Last year, it was a fixed-grip quad at Trollhaugen, Wisconsin and a triple at Mt. Southington, Connecticut. The year before, it was the new Sandy quad at Saddleback. Everyone raves about the quality of the lifts and the experience of working with Partek's team. Saddleback GM Jim Quimby laid this out for us in detail when he joined me on the podcast last year:Trollhaugen owner and GM Jim Rochford, Jr. was similarly effusive:I'm underscoring this point because if you visit Partek's website, you'll be like “I hope they have this thing ready for Y2K.” But this is your stop if you need a new SKF 6206-2RS1, which is only $17!On the old Catskills resort hotels with ski areasNew York is home to more ski areas (51) than any state in America, but there are still far more lost ski areas here than active ones. The New York Lost Ski Areas Project estimates that the ghosts of up to 350 onetime ski hills haunt the state. This is not so tragic as it sounds, as the vast majority of these operations consisted of a goat pulling a toboggan up 50 vertical feet beside Fiesty Pete's dairy barn. These operated for the lifespan of a housefly and no one missed them when they disappeared. On the opposite end were a handful of well-developed, multi-lift ski areas that have died in modernity: Scotch Valley (1988), Shu Maker (1999), Cortina (mid-90s), and Big Tupper (2012). But in the middle sat dozens of now-defunct surface-tow bumps, some with snowmaking, some attached to the famous and famously extinct Borsch Belt Catskills resorts.It is this last group that Taylor and I discuss in the podcast. He estimates that “probably a dozen” ski areas once operated in Sullivan County. Some of these were standalone operations like Holiday, but many were stapled to large resort hotels like The Nevele and Grossingers. I couldn't find a list of the extinct Catskills resorts that once offered skiing, and none appeared to have bothered drawing a trailmap.While these add-on ski areas are a footnote in the overall story of U.S. skiing, an activity-laying-around-to-do-at-a-resort can have a powerful multiplier effect. Here are some things that I only do if I happen across a readymade setup: shoot pool, ice skate, jet ski, play basketball, fish, play minigolf, toss cornhole bags. I enjoy all of these things, but I won't plan ahead to do them on purpose. I imagine skiing acted in this fashion for much of the Bortsch Belt crowd, like “oh let's go try that snowskiing thing between breakfast and our 11:00 baccarat game.” And with some of these folks, skiing probably became something they did on purpose.The closest thing modernity delivers to this is indoor skiing, which, attached to a mall – as Big Snow is in New Jersey – presents itself as Something To Do. Which is why I believe we need a lot more such centers, and soon.On shrinking Holiday MountainSome ski areas die all at once. Holiday Mountain curdled over decades, to the husk Taylor purchased last year. Check the place out in 2000, with lifts zinging all over the place across multiple faces:A 2003 flood smashed the terrain near the entrance, and by 2007, Holiday ran just two lifts:At some indeterminant point, the ski area also abandoned the Turkey Trot double. This 2023 trailmap shows the area dedicated to snowtubing, though to my knowledge no such activity was ever conducted there at scale.On the lift you see from Route 17Anyone cruising NY State 17 can see this chairlift rising off the northwest corner of the ski area:This is essentially a billboard, as Taylor left the terminal in place after demolishing the lower part of the long-inactive lift.Taylor intends to run a lift back up this hill and re-open all the old terrain. But first he has to restore the slopes, which eroded significantly in their last life as a Motocross course. There is no timeline for this, but Taylor works fast, and I wouldn't be shocked to see the terrain come back online as soon as 2025.On NY 17's transformation into I-86New York 17 is in the midst of a decades-long evolution into Interstate 86, with long stretches of the route that spans southern New York already signed as such. But the interstate designation comes with standards that define lane number and width, bridge height, shoulder dimensions, and maximum grade, among many other particulars, including the placement and length of exit and entrance ramps. Exit 108, which provides direct eastbound access to and egress from Holiday Mountain, is fated to close whenever the highway gods close the gap that currently splits I-86 into segments.On Norway MountainHoliday is the second ski area comeback story featured on the pod in recent months, following the tale of dormant-since-2017 Norway Mountain, Michigan:On Holiday's high-energy social media accountsTaylor has breathlessly documented Holiday's comeback on the ski area's Instagram and Facebook accounts. They're incredible. Follow recommended. On Tuxedo RidgeThis place frustrates me. Once a proud beginners-oriented ski center with four chairlifts and a 450-foot vertical drop, the bump dropped dead around 2014 without warning or explanation, despite a prime location less than an hour from New York City.I hiked the place in 2020, and wrote about it:On Ski Areas of New YorkSki Areas of New York, or SANY, is one of America's most effective state ski area organizations. I've hosted the organization's president, Scott Brandi, on the podcast a couple of times:Compulsory mention of ORDAThe Olympic Regional Development Authority, which manages New York State-owned Belleayre, Gore, and Whiteface mountains, lost $47.3 million in its last fiscal year. One ORDA board member, in response to the report, said that it's “amazing how well we are doing,” according to the Adirondack Explorer. Which makes a lot of the state's independent ski area operators say things like, “Huh?” That's probably a fair response, since $47.3 million would likely be sufficient for the state to simply purchase every ski area in New York other than Hunter, Windham, Holiday Valley, and Bristol.On high-speed ropetowsI'll keep writing about these forever because they are truly amazing and there should be 10 of them at every ski area in America:Welch Village, Minnesota. Video by Stuart Winchester.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 82/100 in 2024, and number 582 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Derek Ferland - Sullivan County Manager - is here as we talk about the latest Discover Sugar River Region meeting this week, progress with the organization and it's new hire.  We discuss the Nursing Home project, community power, lead abatement, local sports in the playoffs and more.

unopposed canidate for High Sheriff for Sullivan County, Jayson Almstrom is here as we talk about his campaign, working for the Sheriff's Office, his past with Newport and State Police, what the Sheriff's Office does, and lots more.