WALLKILL VALLEY
TIMES
Vol
Nasty weather Wind , rain , lightning knock out power
. 35 , No 9 3 WEDNESDAY , MARCH 1 , 2017 3 ONE DOLLAR
Cool jazz
Page 14
www . WallkillValleyTimes . net
Drug bust on Main Street
Big cocaine seizure in Walden is sign of rise in use , D . A . says
By JESSICA COHEN
Several trees fell in the yard of Charlene Riach in Wallkill .
By JESSICA COHEN
Straight winds up to 69 mph knocked down trees and utility poles and sent stationary planes crashing into each other in a thunderstorm on Saturday night . About 32,000 homes and businesses in several counties were affected , according to John Maserjian , spokesperson for Central Hudson Electric Gas and Electric .
Similar conditions , with a cold front meeting a warm front , may cause a similar storm on Wednesday , said Faye Barthold , National Weather Service meteorologist .
“ With a 65-knot wind , they ’ ll fly ,” said Ed Magryta , manager of the Orange County Airport , referring to small planes parked there . “ So I ’ m not surprised they lifted . Gusts must have ripped them out of their tie-downs ,” he said . Two were “ strikes ,” with likely irreparable damage , but only eight of 165 planes there were damaged , he said .
That was typical of the straight winds ’ narrow paths that also left trees and poles pointing in the same direction on the ground . They tended to fall in narrow swathes , with surrounding areas undisturbed . While tornado winds come from multiple directions , straight winds come from a single direction , Barthold said .
During the driving rain and wind , Charlene Riach said her family hardly heard three trees fall in her yard , though one tree grazed the side of her house where her husband sat by the window . But houses on either side of hers on Clearview Ext . in Wallkill seemed unaffected , she said .
“ A half hour before , it was 70 degrees and warm ,” she said . “ I was in the backyard . Then it got dark , and the trees fell shortly afterward , all in the same direction . But some things didn ’ t move — tables and chairs and urns . The gazebo in back wasn ’ t bolted down , and it didn ’ t move . Whatever came through only took things in its path .”
Their lights went off at 6:30 and came back on at 10:30 .
“ Driving through 70 mph winds was crazy , but you do what you gotta do ,” ,” said Larry Marshall , Town of Crawford
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A Village of Walden beat cop leveraged a little information into the biggest Walden cocaine seizure in at least several decades , Walden Police Chief Jeffry Holmes said at a press conference on Friday .
With a no-knock
“ Upper middle class drug users are more likely to buy powder cocaine , while the less affluent tend to buy crack cocaine .” warrant , ten officers from the county sheriff ’ s swat team raided an apartment at 38 East Main Street in Walden and handcuffed five people late Thursday afternoon , according to Holmes and county Chief A s s i s t a n t District Attorney
DAVID HOOVLER Christopher
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Borek . At 5:25 p . m ., police found a UPS express box in the apartment containing two white bricks of cocaine weighing 1000 grams each . At 5:28 p . m ., they found a similar
Continued on page 4
SERVING CRAWFORD , GARDINER , MAYBROOK , MONTGOMERY , PINE BUSH , SHAWANGUNK , WALDEN AND WALLKILL