Southern Ulster Times Jul. 27 2016

TIMES SOUTHERN Plattekill urged to ban single-use plastic bags ULSTER Vol. 13, No 30 3 JULY 27 - AUGUST 2, 2016 3 ONE DOLLAR Business Leadership profiles training Special section Page 20 SERVING HIGHLAND, MARLBOROUGH & PLATTEKILL Always prepared Novice firefighters receive training in Highland By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] Last week the Plattekill Town Board was asked to consider a town-wide ban on single use plastic bags that people receive in most of the major local stores. Janet Apuzzo thanked the board for having her on the agenda to speak on this topic. She acknowledged that it is difficult for people to change their way of thinking but it is important to understand that these kinds of bags usually end up in landfills, clog waterways and are harmful to wildlife, saying that these “facts that have been known for a long time. Its our job as a self-governing people to work toward a safer, better, more self-sustainable future. Banning single use bags is just one small step in that direction.” Apuzzo said education alone would not stop their use as “everybody likes their free bags, but if you had to pay for your bags, you would use them in a more conservative and conscientious manner… Beyond being a safety issue for animals and an environmental issue for all of us, its a financial issue for the town.” Apuzzo indicated that these types of bags comprise about 3 percent of all waste. “Its not much but if we can cut 3 percent of the waste we are beginning to solve our landfill issues,” she said. Apuzzo pointed out that in the U.S. 178 civic entities have adopted measures against these bags along with New Paltz Continued on page 4 Everett Erichsen explains the hydraulic ventilation ‘fog’ setting on a nozzle that is used after a fire is extinguished. Using this tactic to ventilate moves several hundred cubic feet of air per minute. By MARK REYNOLDS [email protected] In any field of work, one has to start somewhere. To be a firefighter, that means taking the required Firefighter I class. Highland’s Third Assistant Chief WWW.SOUTHERNULSTERTIMES.COM Everett Erichsen said this six day, twoweek concentrated class is the start of it Continued on page 2