The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the village of Herkimer closed off Mohawk Street and a portion of state Route 28 Wednesday morning for an exercise to erect a floodwall closure. The project began at 7 a.m. and the floodwall was constructed and disassembled by 9:15 a.m.
The DEC and the Herkimer Department of Public Works planned the training exercise to make sure village staff are familiar with how to construct the floodwall if a flood emergency was to occur. The exercise also ensured the closure plates and the wall are in good working order and able to be quickly assembled.
State and local officials, along with area residents, gathered in the Herkimer County Community College gymnasium Tuesday evening to remember the victims of the March shootings in Mohawk and Herkimer and to honor all those who served during the events of March 13 and 14.
Herkimer County Legislature Chairman Vincent J. Bono, who served as master of ceremonies for the Day of Reflection and Recognition ceremony, called the shootings “a tragic, senseless act that left four men dead and two more seriously injured.” He added, “This horrific event shattered our sense of security. Many of us never thought anything like this would ever happen here.”
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Voters in the new Central Valley Central School District went to the polls Tuesday and approved the district’s proposed $44,125,000 budget for the 2013 - 2014 school year by a vote of 364 in favor to 142 opposed.
The proposal increases spending 4.9 percent, or $2,062,390, compared to the combined budgets of the former Ilion and Mohawk school districts.
It was a subdued kickoff to the third round of the Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Development Council.
Neither of the council’s chairmen — SUNYIT President Bjong Wolf Yeigh and Larry Gilroy III of Gilroy, Kernan & Gilroy — attended the Chamber Alliance of the Mohawk Valley’s grant awards ceremony Monday at SUNYIT.
After a video went viral that showed Pope Francis seemingly performing an exorcism on a man, the Vatican responded by saying, “The Holy Father had no intention to perform any exorcism. Instead, as he frequently does for the sick and suffering persons who approach him, he simply meant to pray for a suffering person who was presented to him.” In the video, the pope took the hand of a man, a priest whispered something to the pope, who placed his hands on the man’s head, and the man begins convulsing for a moment.
The bell atop the Alexander Hose Company marker was rung and flowers were placed in the Mohawk Cemetery Monday evening during the company’s annual inspection and memorial services.
After an inspection in front of the firehouse, firefighters and members of the village board marched around the block, coming to a halt in front of the Alexander Hose Company marker on Columbia Street.
The Ilion Fire Department conducted its annual inspection and memorial service Monday evening. The special occasion also celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Ilion Volunteer Fire Department.
The volunteer fire department has been a part of the Ilion community since it was established a few years after the incorporation of the village in 1852.
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Three teens were arrested Tuesday after an investigation into a fire Monday night at the Morgan-Duofold complex, according to Ilion police.
Two Ilion males, ages 16 and 18, and an 18-year-old female were all charged with third-degree criminal trespass.
U.S. Army Major Gen. Peter Lennon on Saturday afternoon welcomed 71 enlistees from 47 towns in Herkimer, Oneida, Otsego and Schoharie counties to the nation’s armed forces during the inaugural Our Community Salutes of Central New York military recognition event at Herkimer Home State Historic Site.
“It is a privilege and an honor to talk to them because these young men and women volunteered and made a choice to join something bigger than themselves,” Lennon, commander of the 377th Theater Sustainment Command in Belle Chasse, La., and a native of New Berlin, said Saturday. “It is an opportunity to welcome them to the team.”
Voters heading to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of school districts might be surprised to see tax levies perceivably higher than the state’s 2 percent property tax cap.
On Tuesday, voters around the region will vote on their school districts’ proposed budgets for the 2013 - 2014 school year. Here are the highlights of those plans and school board candidates. For more information on poll hours and locations, contact your local board of education office.
Gold Star Mothers should be honored with their own monument and Brock Abrams, of Boy Scout Troop No. 502, is planning to install one in the village of Frankfort.
Abrams addressed the Frankfort village board during a meeting Thursday to request permission to place a monument to Gold Star Mothers for his Eagle Scout project. He said the women who lost children in the nation’s wars should be remembered. Abrams asked to place the monument behind the Doughboy statue and estimated it would be three feet high and two feet wide with a teardrop shape set on a triangular base representing a folded flag.
Mohawk Valley Health Care Center celebrated the last day of National Nursing Home Week with a resident and staff beach social on Friday afternoon.
The weeklong celebration was a way for residents and staff to enjoy each other’s company in recognition of this year’s theme of “Team-Centered Care.”
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On Saturday afternoon local residents gathered at Mohawk’s Weller Park for a day of remembrance to find a partly cloudy sky making room for a halo surrounding the sun.
“That halo is our families looking down upon us today as we remember them,” said Laura Renshaw, sister-in-law of Michael L. Renshaw, one of the victims killed at Gaffey’s Fast Lube in Herkimer during the March 13 shootings who was honored during the Take Back the Day Remembrance Walk.
The Little Falls Historical Society celebrated its fourth Patriots Day at Indian Castle Church on Saturday afternoon.
Each year, Patriots Day is celebrated in most of New England to commemorate the April 15, 1775, Battles of Lexington and Concord which marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
The Little Falls Historical Society established a local Patriots Day in 2010 to be celebrated each year on the third Saturday in May to recognize area ancestors and their contributions to America’s quest for independence.
Members of the class of 2013 at Herkimer County Community College donned caps and gowns to process into the gymnasium of the Physical Education building Friday evening to receive their diplomas.
For some, commencement exercises marked their first or one of their few times on campus.
Plans are under way for the village of Frankfort’s 150th anniversary celebration on July 12 and 13.
Village Clerk Karlee Tamburro said organizers are currently inviting groups and individuals to sign up to take part in the parade scheduled for July 13.
