Wallkill Valley Times May 18 2016

TIMES WALLKILL VALLEY Vol. 34, No 20 3 WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2016 First Holy Communion Heroin use among young people has grown to epidemic proportions, statistics suggest. But those who are using that Guide to the fair www.WallkillValleyTimes.net School Elections VALLEY CENTRAL Parents get eye-opening facts on drugs drug, and drugs that lead up to heroin, are no longer the strung-out addict stereotype; rather, they could be the kid next door. Or your own child. Those facts were part of drug ONE DOLLAR Page 22 Heroin epidemic By JANE ANDERSON 3 awareness presentations at Pine Bush High School on Monday evening. The presenters hoped to help parents Continued on page 4 Gift for the Montgomery Village Museum By a margin of 1177 -434, Valley Central voters approved the 2016-2017 spending plan. The $98,533,456 budget represents a 1.91% increase over last year’s spending plan. The top three in a field of five candidates were elected to seats on the Valley Central Board of Education. Sarah Bunting Messing was the top vote-getter with 1137 votes. Joseph Byne, a 2013 Valley Central graduate, won a board seat with 977 votes. Incumbent Bradley Conklin, with 884 votes, was re-elected to his second term. Unsuccessful candidates were Chris Ann Harper (519) and Nicole Estrada (373). WALLKILL Wallkill voters resoundingly approved the proposed 2016-2017 school budget on Tuesday with a 688 -218 margin. The $71,912,252 budget features a zero percent tax levy increase while retaining staff and bolstering programs throughout the district. In the annual Board of Education election, four contenders vied for three seats on the board and challenger Dustin Palen (602 votes) was the top vote-getter. Palen, a Sergeant from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, earned his first three-year term on the board. Board President Joseph LoCicero (600 votes) and board member Leif Spencer (520 votes) were each re-elected. Vice President Tom McCullough (506 votes) came up just short in his bid for a third term. PINE BUSH Photo provided Derrik Wynkoop, President & CEO of Walden Savings Bank, presents Village of Montgomery Historian Marion Wild and the Montgomery Village Museum with a $1,000 donation Friday at the ribbon-cutting of the bank’s new Montgomery branch. Additional photo on page 27. The Pine Bush Board of Education race became uncontested a week before the election, with candidate Jeffrey Weisman bowing out before the Meet the Candidates Night at the high school. That left four candidates for four board seats: incumbent President Lloyd Greer Jr. and Vice President Gretchen Meier, and newcomers Dori Johnson and Matthew Watkins. Besides Greer and Meier’s three-year seats, the open seats were the three-year term of board member James Starr, who chose not to run again, and the one year remaining in the term of board member Eric Meier, who passed away last September. The candidate with the fewest votes will serve the one-year term; it was unknown at press time who earned the fewest votes. Voters also approved the district’s proposed $112,429,077 budget. SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL