A judge ruled this week that remarks posted on the Internet that criticized the father of a Cooperstown teen who was shot by a classmate in 2010 were constitutionally protected by the First Amendment.

Central Valley Central School District students in grades 4-11 voted Friday and chose “Thunder” as the newly merged district’s mascot. In the same vote, they also chose light blue, navy blue and white with a gold accent as the district’s colors.

Katie Ranno has been preparing for a long time.
Not just the seemingly endless hours of studying or the dozens of times she practiced her speech.
The 19-year-old St. Johnsville resident has been working since August 2011 to get to Friday — Herkimer County Community College’s 45th annual Commencement.

The end of the school day Thursday was anything but routine for two young girls at Fisher Elementary School.
First grader Aylaa, 7, and third grader Magdalena Pellerito, 9, were sent into the school library shortly after 2 p.m. and found their dad, Army National Guard Captain John Pellerito, waiting for them.

Valley Health Services earned a top ranking in U.S. News and World Report’s annual Best Nursing Homes report released at the end of February.
Reflecting back on the achievement Thursday afternoon, Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Betrus said she sees nurses who have worked selflessly providing care and compassion to residents suffering from a recent catastrophic health crisis, housekeepers who work tirelessly to ensure residents’ rooms are clean and hygienic and dietary staff who strive to create the best meals possible for people on diet restrictions.

The board of education of the new Central Valley Central School District has a number of decisions to make and some of them were raised during Tuesday’s meeting at Jarvis High School.
Some will have to do with preparing the school buildings for the changeover to the new district.

The Herkimer County Legislature Wednesday evening voted to oppose state legislation that would allow for early voting in New York.

The board of education of the merged Ilion-Mohawk school district voted to approve Central Valley Central School as the official name of the new district and approved some key staffing appointments during a meeting Tuesday in the Jarvis High School auditorium.
The resolution regarding the district name asks the New York State Education Department to change the new district’s name to Central Valley Central School. Ilion and Mohawk students in grades 4-11 selected the name Central Valley in a vote.

The Herkimer County Legislature Wednesday evening was expected to vote to terminate an agreement with At Home Care.
The legislature in March 2011 authorized the sale of the county’s operating certificate of a certified home health agency and long-term care agency to the Bassett Healthcare Network affiliate and received a $50,000 deposit, with a balance due of $150,000.

Central Valley students in grades 4-11 will vote Thursday to select the school’s new mascot and colors.

Voters in the Oppenheim-Ephratah-St. Johnsville Central School District will go to the polls on May 21 to vote on the district’s first budget.
The $18,088,119 proposal calls for a tax levy of $4,830,151, which is equal to the two separate levies paid by Oppenheim-Ephratah and St. Johnsville residents this year.
“The budget does not include a tax increase and does not call for any borrowing,” district Treasurer Karen Mettler said at Monday evening’s public hearing on the proposed 2013 – 2014 budget. She added the district would hold off on establishing its tax rate until final assessment figures and the state’s equalization rates are known. “That information is not available until summer, and the tax rate could differ between towns depending on how they are assessed, so district will wait until August to adopt its tax rate.”

Victims of the March 13 shootings will be remembered and honored in a Take Back the Day Remembrance Walk scheduled for Saturday afternoon.
The event will begin at 1 p.m. with a service in Mohawk’s Weller Park, according to organizer Barbara Bellstedt. She pointed out the walk is not a fundraiser, but is intended to honor and celebrate the lives of those who were lost and those who survived the events of March 13 and to bring the community together for healing and support.

Throughout the state and the nation, Chambers of Commerce and business organizations celebrate, honor and promote small businesses through small business weeks or days.

High school junior Tim Sullivan thought glass fusing wouldn’t be too difficult.
But last week when guest artist Tina Betz taught his art class at Herkimer Junior-Senior High School how to fuse glass, Sullivan realized just how much work it takes.

This will be the 15th anniversary of the Dolgeville Violet Festival, which takes place from Friday, June 7, through Sunday, June 9.

West Canada Valley Central School District voters will be asked to approve a proposed $15,089,196 budget for 2013 – 2014 on May 21.
Voting will be from 1 to 9 p.m. in the high school lobby.

Nearly two months ago, Deborah Massocco Castellano and her boyfriend at the time, Ryan Matthias, were arrested by Herkimer police after a domestic incident at her home, authorities said.

U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna visited Mount Markham Middle School Friday to congratulate seventh-grader Austin Joyce and his grandmother, Deborah Joyce, winners of the UpClose Cardiac Surgery Go Red Challenge sponsored by Basset Healthcare.
Mount Markham Middle School Principal Dawn Yerkie said the school’s seventh grade class has participated in the UpClose Cardiac Surgery Program for several years.

Since she was 2 ½ Rebecca Reale has played violin and now the 20-year old Mohawk native has been chosen to play in the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, a music festival held annually in north Germany.
The Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra is an orchestral academy founded by Leonard Bernstein in 1987. Modeled after the American Tanglewood festival, Bernstein envisioned the academy as a center for training young musicians of the highest caliber.

Recreation along the Erie Canal waterway, which opened May 1, continues to see growth as the state Canal Corp. focuses efforts on closing the gaps along the Erie Canalway Trail. A planned expansion will create more than 40 miles of continuous trail from Little Falls to Amsterdam.