Southern Ulster Times Jun. 20 2018

T IMES SOUTHERN ULSTER Vol. 15, No. 25 3 JUNE 20 - 26, 2018 3 ONE DOLLAR Celtic Festival returning Marlboro Students of the month Page 14 Page 19 SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH AND PLATTEKILL Judge endorsed at Plattekill caucus Big pot bust Raid in Marlboro nets $800,000 By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] Photo provided Joseph I. Arrendondo-Alarcon, 34, of Marlboro was arrested on June 7 and has been charged with Criminal Possession of Marijuana 1st degree. He is being held at the Ulster County Jail. By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum held a press conference last week to announce that multiple agencies were involved in a raid of four homes in Marlboro and two in the Town of Newburgh that yielded 300 pounds of marijuana with a street value estimated at $800,000. The six homes were all part of a large marijuana growing operation. Van Blarcum said the growing operation was uncovered because of a fire at 212 Bingham Rd that broke out at about 1:25 p.m. on Wednesday, June 6. No one was home at the time of the fire. It is believed the fire was caused by a faulty electrical motor in one of the ventilation systems for the growing operation. Van Blarcum said the Marlborough Police requested the assistance of Detectives Continued on page 4 WWW.SOUTHERNULSTERTIMES.COM Last week Judge Robert W. Murphy was endorsed for re-election at the Plattekill Republican caucus. Murphy is the only one who will be on the ballot this November. “I feel good and five years I’ve been doing it,” he said. “I have a good record. I’ve been fair and impartial, have done a good job and I like it.” Murphy noted that in the past few years a grant was obtained from the Office of Court Administration for a bullet-resistant window for the public and for inside court office renovations. There are also new cameras with recording capability in the court that provide a record when needed. Murphy said he has made himself, “as readily available as I can.” He will be knocking on doors during the campaign season to meet and answer questions from the public and expects to be at this year’s Plattekill Day and also attend the Republican Party BBQ. Murphy is asking for the public’s support in November. “I don’t care what their political affiliation is, I don’t care if they’re Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent or Working Family Party; all I care is that they understand that I’m Continued on page 23