Public rallies in support of Tupper Lake resort

Here's George Earl's report on yesterday's Adirondack Club & Resort public hearings:

The L.P. Quinn Elementary School cafeteria was packed Wednesday afternoon during public hearings over the proposed Adirondack Club & Resort project in Tupper Lake.

Dozens of community members, business owners, politicians and other leaders from throughout the Adirondacks spoke during the hearings. The overwhelming majority were in support of the Adirondack Club and Resort project proposed for the Big Tupper ski area.

Melissa McManus of the Tupper Lake Revitalization Committee asked the state Adirondack Park Agency to send a message that “appropriate development can happen here, that Adirondacks are still open for business and that there is in fact hope for Adirondack communities like Tupper Lake.”

Community Store reaches goal, set to open this summer

The interim board of directors of the Community Store in Saranac Lake announced this week that it has reached its capital investment goal and will open sometime this summer.

Board members made the announcement Wednesday morning at the former Corvo’s restaurant, the future site of the shareholder-owned department store.

The effort to open a community-owned department store in Saranac Lake launched in the summer of 2007. At the time, the all-volunteer board of directors had high hopes of reaching its $500,000 capital goal quickly.

Barrett to chair ORDA board of directors

The former chairman of the New York State Republican Committee unofficially took the helm of the state Olympic Regional Development Authority’s Board of Directors today.

Pat Barrett sat in as chair of Tuesday’s regular ORDA meeting, replacing Joe Martens, who earlier this month was confirmed as the new commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Barrett worked for Cuomo during his gubernatorial campaign last year, and served as chair of the state Republican committee from 1989 to 1991.

Solider, 40, from LP dies in Texas

A Lake Placid man who served several tours in Iraq was found dead at his Texas home last month.

Officials with the Fort Hood Army Base say Sergeant First Class Shawn Michael Coolidge was found dead at his residence in Killeen, Texas on Feb. 17.

The cause of death is not yet known.

Police looking for missing sisters

Police in Albany issued a missing child alert Wednesday morning.

According to reports, police are looking for two sisters who disappeared around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. Officers suspect the young girls may be with their non-custodial mother, possibly heading for Canada.

Officials are seeking the public’s help in locating 15-year-old Ashley Duncan and 12-year-old Heather Duncan.

Ashley is described as a white female, 5’8” tall weighing about 160 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes; her sister, Heather, is described as a white female, 5’7” tall weighing approximately 120 pounds with brown hair and green eyes.

Gibson forms energy advisory council

The Republican representing New York’s 20th Congressional District announced recently that he’s forming a group to advise him on a broad range of energy issues.

Chris Gibson of Kinderhook says the Energy Advisory Council will assist him in identifying the necessary steps to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Gibson also wants to study ways of developing clean forms of domestic energy production and establish the role northern New York can play in that process.

Gibson, Sayward to host town hall meeting in Lake Placid

A pair of state and federal lawmakers will host a town hall-style meeting in Lake Placid next week.

Chris Gibson, who represents New York’s 20th Congressional District, and Teresa Sayward, who represents New York’s 113th Assembly District, will participate in a town hall forum from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18 at the High Peaks Resort on Saranac Avenue.

The event is being hosted jointly by the Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism.

Gibson and Sayward – both Republicans – will make opening remarks, with a question-and-answer period to follow.