The Farmscape Ecology Program's Apple Orchard Project Report is fresh off the press. It outlines the results of our 2014 study exploring aspects of Apple Orchard Ecology throughout the Hudson Valley. The report can be downloaded from their project page. How do bees, weevils, moths, wasps, spiders and the like move through a landscape that includes orchards? What does that mean for those creatures? What does that mean for apple production? The report doesn't claim to have the answers, but it outlines some initial observations.

You've driven by it a million times. The 1799 Hillsdale Toll House stands right up against the road it once served. As the toll keeper's house and gate on the Columbia Turnpike for a century, it was part of a series of "toll gates" that funded turnpike maintenance and encouraged commerce between New England, New York, and the busy Hudson River. There's lots more to say about the turnpike system and this little gem of a building. But for now, the Town Board would like it to be known that the building's owner, who has roots in our area but now lives in faraway Nova Scotia, has offered to donate the building. A subcommittee has been formed to explore all the possibilities. The first step, now underway, is to help make the case for it to be added to the National Register. That way, if the transaction proceeds, the building will be eligible for grants and a wide range of funding opportunities. Hillsdale's old Toll House is not yet lost.

One hundred years ago, a savage war was devastating Europe. The fighting began in 1914 and continued through 1918. The United States joined Britain, France and Russia in April, 1917, providing the allies critical support to help defeat Germany and Austria-Hungary.

This March, approximately 400 students in grades 8-12 at Taconic Hills Central School, along with many adult residents of the district, will all be reading and discussing a powerful World War I novel, Private Peaceful, by Michael Morpurgo. Through the shared reading and discussion experience, as well as participation in related events at the school and the local libraries, the organizers hope to foster a greater love of reading as well as a stronger sense of community and a strengthened school/local library connection. More on the library website.

There's word that the Columbia County Board of Supervisors may take up the matter, previously shelved, of creating a county manager to oversee government operations following a recommendation by one of its members. Here's the article in the Register Star.

Also, Patrick Grattan, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, has announced that the recently adopted 2015 Columbia County budget includes funding for the preparation of a plan to improve the quality and accessibility of broadband for county residents. Read their press release copy here.