by Danielle Fried

Editor’s note: This story is one in a seriesfocusing on the current impacts of the high-voltage power lines proposed to relieve anidentified transmission bottleneck betweenLeeds and Pleasant Valley.

Mary Jane McFarland and Greg Quinneach have something to protect. ForMcFarland, it’s her two young children. ForQuinn, it’s “the next big thing.” Both arewaiting to know, literally, where to go next.

Both have farms in the path of proposedhigh-voltage power lines.

The lines have been proposed by threedevelopers to relieve an identified transmis-sion bottleneck between Leeds and PleasantValley.

Developers are in the process of modify-ing their proposals to try and stay withinexisting rights-of-way so land and homeswill not be taken by eminent domain.However, businesses and landowners in thepath of the proposed power lines can’tmove forward until a project is approved bythe Public Service Commission (PSC). Theprocess can take several years to complete.

Quinn is a currant farmer in ClintonCorners. He sells several products throughhis website, which reads: “The next bigthing isn’t big at all. Tiny black currants.Big benefits.” Quinn says currants are “thereal deal” when it comes to super foods.

While products labeled currants can befound in stores, small print on the packag-ing identifies the fruit as “Zante currants”which, according to Quinn, are actually akind of raisin originating from the Greekisland Zakynthos. Quinn is the only personin the nation who sells the “real thing.”

For now, Quinn is farming a Swedishvariety of currants imported from Canada.After years of effort to lift a ban on currantfarming, build relationships with cutting-edge currant growers in Poland, and wait-ing out the three-year quarantine requiredto bring a new plant into the country, Quinnwas set to replace his plants with disease-resistant varieties yielding twice the fruit.

Local educatorsaddress roll backof implementation

by Danielle Fried

If there is agreement about anything ineducation today, it’s this: The rollout of theCommon Core State Standards in 2011 hasbeen rushed.

The New York State EducationDepartment (SED) acknowledges that fact,and the Board of Regents, in its Februaryreport, issued 19 points-of-change to theimplementation of the Common Core. Mostnotably, the Board of Regents has delayedfull implementation of the Common Coreby five years, from 2017 to 2022.

“Changing that to five years out isallowing people a certain exhale,” saidCora Stempel, assistant superintendent forinstruction and personnel in the Hyde ParkCentral School District. “At the same time,that doesn’t mean that we have less concernaround the need to align the curriculumwith those standards and move forward.”

Others don’t see much change at all.Marvin Kreps, director of curriculum andinstruction for the Rhinebeck CentralSchool District, said, “I would suggest thatthey have not gone far enough in addressing[concerns voiced by parents and educators].They changed very little of substance.”

The delay in full implementation meansstudents’ mastery of Common Core-basedexams will not be a basis for graduationuntil 2022. This date is 12 years from therollout, giving students access to CommonCore-aligned curricula from the start oftheir education.

New York State’s adoption of theCommon Core State Standards came afterPresident Barack Obama’s Race To TheTop (RTTT) competitive grant programwas announced in 2009. Under RTTT,states would be awarded certain monies forimplementing educational changes, such asdata-based teacher evaluation and adoptionof the Common Core. The newly devel-oped standards aim to make all students“college and career ready,” and emphasizelanguage and math skills.

Since the rollout, many individuals havespoken out about the undue stress put oneducators and students to adapt to thechange and be accountable for successfulimplementation in a two-year span. RTTTissued a timeline for schools to show evi-dence of participation, partly explaining therushed implementation.

Accountability concerns extend to stu-dents and educators. Annual ProfessionalPerformance Review (APPR) means 20percent of a teacher’s evaluation is basedon student scores on state assessments.

While the Regents offer more time forstudents to adjust to the new standards, theAPPR process remains. However, theBoard report does allow teachers who facedisciplinary action based on student assess-ments from the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014

Jorma Kaukonen to play Towne Crier ... page 9

NORTHERN

DUTCHESS NEWSA division of The Southern Dutchess News ~ Entirely produced and printed in Dutchess County since 1959 ~ www.sdutchessnews.com

& Creative Living

Jim Donick reviews ‘The Boys from Syracuse’ ... page 13

Schumer wants federalcommission to reverse

decision that could raiselocal electric rates 10%

by Ray Fashona

POUGHKEEPSIE – Calling animpending hike in electric rates “insan-ity,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said hewould oppose the federally orderedincrease “with every bone in my body.”

Speaking in front of PoughkeepsieCity Hall last week, New York’s seniorsenator called the move by the FederalEnergy Regulatory Commission(FERC) “a dumb, dumb, dumb idea.”

FERC in August approved the cre-ation a capacity zone in DutchessCounty – and elsewhere throughout themid-Hudson Valley – in order to lurenew power generators. The idea wasoriginally proposed by the New YorkIndependent System Operators, whichruns New York’s transmission network.After a rehearing in January, the com-mission OK’d the zone again. It is set totake effect May 1.

What it will mean to consumers,Schumer said, is an increase of between5 and 10 percent in electric rates.

After battling a particularly brutalwinter and a new county-imposed 3.75percent sales tax on home energy thatwent into effect March 1, Dutchess res-idents cannot bear the burden of anoth-er 10 percent jump in electricity,Schumer said.

On its website, Central Hudsonacknowledges that because of theunusually cold winter, many area resi-dents saw higher-than-normal utilitybills. Usage of both natural gas andelectricity jumped considerably (natu-ral gas consumption in January was up25 percent over last year), CentralHudson said, driving up prices as sup-plies dwindled. “Market supply chargesfor natural gas rose by 66 percent as aresult of higher usage,” according to theutility, “while the total price of delivery

Common Core rolloutconcerns reach high level

Love to Cook: Kale Crisps healthy, satisfying

continued on page 5

Volume 6, Issue 13 • March 26-April 1, 2014 • 50¢

Letters to the Editor 4Community Calendar 7Creative Living 9-20

Movie Review 10Love to Cook 11Theater Reviews 12-13Get Growing! 14Exhibitions 15Horoscopes 16Crossword Puzzle 16Sudoku 16A&E Calendar 17Nightlife 18

School of the Week 21Obituaries 22Public Notices 22-23Classifieds 24-27

INDEX

Power line implicationsworry farmers

Chris Hopper, a 6th grade math teacher, helps students at LaGrange Middle School to understanda project during class. Math is one of the key areas emphasized in the Common Core curriculum.Photo by Curtis Schmidt

continued on page 3

Mary Jane McFarland leads one of her horsesin an exercise walk on her farm in PleasantValley. Photo by Curtis Schmidt continued on page 6