News digest

'Visit a Town Park’ Warwick - The Town has declared July as “Visit a Town Park” month and this week town officials are encouraging residents to visit Cascade Park. “Our parks crew has worked hard the past two years to clear brush and clean up around the lake,” Supervisor Michael Sweeton said. “Two recent Eagle Scout projects have given us ten great benches and a beautiful kiosk with information on the many trails. This 400-acre park is a great place to hike, picnic or fish with the whole family. For a map of the park, visit: www.townofwarwick.org/community/2006_cascade_lake_map.pdf Company donates pet oxygen masks Greenwood Lake - Invisible Fence of Orange County donated Pet Oxygen Masks to Greenwood Lake Fire Department earlier this month. These donations are made in hopes that emergency personnel will be properly equipped to save a stricken animal in the event of a fire or other emergency. Each kit comes with three sized masks that can be used on a variety of sizes and types of pets. Invisible Fence of Orange County is an active participant in “Project Breath” a Pet Oxygen Mask Donation program. Several kits have already been donated to local fire departments as a part of Invisible Fence® Brand’s program to provide these kits to fire departments nationwide. So far, more than 1,600 kits have been donated nationwide. Pet oxygen masks are still available to local fire departments through Invisible Fence of Orange County and Project Breathe. Contact the company at 845-987-7772 or visit online at www.invisiblefence.com/O2. Former Congressman John Hall will not run again Dover Plains - Former U. S. Congressman John Hall, who lost his re-election bid in November 2010 to Republican Nan Hayworth, has decided not to run for office and regain his seat in Congress in the upcoming 2012 election. “Having spent ten years of my life in elective office, and having family duties that include taking care of my 90 year-old parents and spending more time at home with my wife Pamela and extended family, I have decided not to run for reelection to New York’s 19th Congressional seat,” Hall said in a press release announcing his decision. Hall added: “This does not mean that I am happy with my successor, Nan Hayworth. By supporting the Ryan Plan, which would turn Medicare into a voucher system that would leave seniors on their own to negotiate fees with doctors; by voting to gut the EPA budget for enforcing the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act; and by voting to eliminate all funds for Planned Parenthood, Congresswoman Hayworth has shown again that she is out of touch with the needs and concerns of mainstream America. “I look forward to working with my fellow Democrats in the 19th District to find the best candidate to reclaim this seat in 2012. A huge obstacle that Democrats must surmount in this election will be the third party corporate and PAC contributions, which are now unlimited and unreported.” Hall is presently recording new songs and performing live both as a solo artist and occasional guest with Orleans, the pop-rock band he co-founded in the 1970s. “Right now, I am returning to the relatively honest and straightforward business of music,” Hall said. “When my parents told me to make sure I had something to fall back on, they never knew it would be the guitar.”