Daily Archives: February 2, 2012

Sleds were special delivered to the Old Barn for Greg Zipadelli's charity ride last weekend. Photo by Jay Lawson

Zippy’s Crusade raises over $100,000 for children’s causes

NASCAR Champion Tony Stewart takes part in an autograph session at Inlet's Old Barn Restaurant. Courtesy photo

The 6th annual Zippy’s Crusade for Kids held at the Ole Barn Restaurant on Friday and Saturday, January 27 and 28, raised more than $100,000 to help children through various charities and organizations.

The event was sold out with 300 people attending, according to Nan Zipadelli, co-founder of the non-for-profit fundraiser with her husband Greg Zipadelli.

The event went off without a hitch, with many compliments about the people, the food and the venue, she said.

Area families benefiting from the proceeds, included a donation of $10,000 to the Trisomy18 Foundation in the name of Owen Lee of Boonville who suffers from a Chromosome 18 disorder.

Inlet's Cory Hansen with Tony Stewart

A donation of $10,000 was made to the Beal Family of Otter Lake whose five year-old son Brandon recently underwent his third open-heart surgery.

Of that amount, $5,000 went to the Children of Health Columbia Hospital and $5,000 for family expenses.

A donation of $10,000 was made in the name of six-year-old Jacob Hancock of Sherrill who suffers from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Of that amount, $5,000 went to the Keys Program and $5,000 was for family expenses. Continue reading →

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Ad’K Current by Colin Criss

Teacher ability: Standardized tests fail in telling whole story

Education is a hot topic in the United States today, spurred by our children’s standardized test scores, which continue to fall farther and farther behind those of other countries.

So it certainly deserves a place in any political discussion.

How do we fix the shortcomings of our educational system? In last week’s State of the Union Address, President Obama listed some seemingly sensible targets, including a push to hire better teachers.

It’s been proven that a good teacher can increase lifetime income of a classroom by $250,000, according to the president. Continue reading →

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Just Call me Mrs. Lucky by Jan from Woodgate

White Magic Sponge… I raise you up… the Abbot to my Costello!

Addiction. It’s everywhere and affects so many people that we can’t even be counted.

Support groups abound, and it’s high time I start my own… because, boys and girls, my name is Jan, and I am a hopeless junkie.

It was over a year ago that I was introduced to Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser.

Because they’re pricey little things—more than twice the cost of a regular colored sponge—I ignored them for a while. And honestly? The first time I scissored my way through the plastic to release my new BFF I wasn’t totally impressed. Continue reading →

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Gary Lee’s Daybreak to Twilight

Outdoor weekend: Lake effect snow secures events’ success

Rough-legged Hawk

Some winter weather finally came our way and dumped some nice lake affect snow on us two days in a row. This sure helped the snowmobiling and both cross country and downhill skiing.

It was the first powder we’ve had all winter.

The nearly three inches of rain that fell before the snow came is still running off, causing wet spots and water running across some of the trails.

Pine siskins

That much snow on the lakes will probably wet them up, and more wet weather is in the forecast for later this week.

Be cautious out on the lakes and watch for slush spots as they can become a snowmobile trap.

The Pond Hockey players sure had ponds for part of the day last Friday, but they got their games in—many under the lights in a howling snowstorm.

Saturday started out very nice for the players and the spectators but later in the day another storm hit with wind and blowing snow, which didn’t let up. Continue reading →

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Tax Time Questions: Is direct deposit of tax refunds the way to go?

by Deborah Ritz, Independent Tax Preparer

QUESTION: Is Direct Deposit a Safe Way to Get a Tax Refund? How safe is the direct deposit feature for having tax refunds issued directly to a checking or savings account?

What happens if there’s a mistake in the bank account number or routing number?

What can be done if there’s a mistake with the direct deposit information?

The IRS and New York State prefer to issue refunds via direct deposit.

This is faster and generally speaking, direct deposit is a relatively safe way to receive your tax refund.

That’s because there’s no check to get lost in the mail and the IRS can send out refunds faster than by mailing a check. But taxpayers should exercise extreme diligence with their direct deposit information. Continue reading →

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