Be Careful Out There Today

PHOTO COU RTESY MICKEY PLANTY, VIA FACEBOOK

Be careful out there:  the photo above was taken on Main Street Schroon earlier today by Mickey Planty. There's just enough of the white stuff  in our area to make things very tricky. Early today several people suffered minor injuries after  a bus, transporting 36 SUNY Maritime College students, slid off the road and went over a barrier on Route 28N in the town of Minerva, according to NY State Police.

The students had attended a leadership retreat in Newcomb and were heading to the Bronx. From News Channel 10:

The tour bus was being driven by W&D Tours, of Brooklyn and was southbound on State Route 28N when it slid off the west shoulder of the roadway. The bus toppled over the guide-rail, rolled down an embankment, and came to rest upside down against a tree. 

Heavy snow was falling at the time of the crash, but it’s not known yet if the weather was a factor.

Four of the passengers were transported by rescue from the scene to Glens Falls Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.  The remaining passengers were transported by school bus from the scene to Minerva Central School, for temporary shelter.  Sixteen of the the remaining passengers were later transported to Glens Falls Hospital and treated for minor injuries.

The State Police were assisted at the scene by Minerva, Johnsburg, Indian Lake, Newcomb, and North Warren rescue squads.  The State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit also responded to the scene to assist with the accident investigation.

Schroon Is Alive, With The Sound Of Music

Breaking News: SCHROON TO BECOME A DRY TOWN

In what will potentially go down as one of the biggest news days in Schroon Lake history  -- beside the closing of the Severance Store, and the barely mentioned incident involving a former Town Board member wearing a too tight pair of Speedos on a 100 plus degree day at  the beach – Schroon is enacting drastic new restrictions on alcohol consumption and will be re-introducing Prohibition.

And there is huge outrage from those impacted by this new law, passed by the Town Board last night. Chief among them is Paul Mrocka, co-founder of the Paradox Brewery, who told Schroon Laker today he now will be forced to turn the brewery into a milkshake bar.

Paul Mrocka's jaw hit the ground  today when he learned of the news

“We are trying to figure out ways to keep that hoppy taste, but in a milkshake. It's gonna be a little weird, but we are game," Paul said.

Meanwhile, Schroon Laker has learned that a silent partner in the business, Saul Mrocka, has devised a devious plan to keep part of the brewery going.

We have also confirmed with producers from CNN the cable news giant is preparing a report on this draconian step backwards. It is scheduled to be broadcast on Anderson Cooper’s  show tonight, barring Donald Trump putting his foot into his mouth.

Read more about the new Prohibition, more about the secret Paradox Brewery plan and how Sticks and Stones  are dealing with this catastrophe from the Schroon Lake Region Facebook page by clicking here.

A Shout Out To Schroon Lake Firefighters Pete Cafaro and Ryan Wendell

Schroon Lake Firefighters Pete Cafaro and Ryan Wendell get a very nice mention in an editorial in the Press Republican. They recently came to the aid of Editor Lois Clermont and his wife:

From The Press-Republican: The Press-Republican has expressed gratitude numerous times for the bravery and toughness of local volunteer firefighters.

They do, after all, go out at all hours in all conditions to tackle an incredibly dangerous task: putting out a blazing fire.

But maybe we haven’t said enough about the smaller acts of helpfulness that firefighters perform. Editor Lois Clermont had a firsthand reminder of that recently.

She and her husband were driving up the Northway from Albany when, in the Town of Chester, a deer suddenly bounded from the right shoulder of the road.

Within seconds, the animal had crashed into the front passenger side of the car and was thrown to the side of the road.

Luckily, as it was a traumatic enough experience, the animal died instantly and no one in the car was injured. But a large plastic engine guard was left hanging out from beneath the car, impairing driving.

State Police were notified and said they would send someone to write up an accident report.

In the meantime, Clermont’s husband tried to detach the dangling car part, but it was firmly attached in one section and there was no pulling it off.

That’s when a couple of area firefighters proved their value beyond their regular duties.

Pete Cafaro and Ryan Wendell of the Schroon Lake Fire Department had just delivered someone to the hospital and were driving the ambulance south, back to their Fire Station.

They looked over at the northbound lane of Interstate 87 and saw a man struggling with something on a car and, a little ways behind that, a deer lying by the side of the road. They figured the car had likely hit the deer and thought they would drive to the next turnaround and make sure no one was injured.

Cafaro and Wendell pulled up with lights flashing — which was helpful in itself because cars were buzzing by in the right-hand lane, regardless of seeing a disabled car inches away. Once the ambulance arrived, drivers seemed to have the good sense to move into the left lane — or maybe it was only because New York state law requires that vehicles shift lanes for a parked emergency vehicle with lights on.

The Schroon Lake crew could have headed back to their station once they saw no humans had been harmed, but they saw the problem with the car damage and jumped right in to help.

They tried a hacksaw, to no avail, and then, after a good 20 minutes of effort, had better luck with industrial-style shears. Before heading out, they also taped up a dangling hose from the leaking wiper-fluid container.

It’s the kind of extra effort that volunteer firefighters all over the North Country make on a regular basis.

Many of us have seen them at work during crises — fighting fires, tending to accident victims, piling sandbags during flooding.

But their many smaller helpful actions often go unnoticed.