Welcome to another episode of Watertown 365 podcast for the week of November 22th. We bring you Watertown’s latest scoops, news & stories, with 2 business highlights that you have to watch out at the later part of this episode. Sit back and relax, and let’s begin with our first story. The winter high school sports season has finally kicked off and now teams began their practices. Do you have crows congregating at your home? Crows are back and causing a mess in downtown Watertown. Looking for the perfect Christmas trees and wreaths to hang on your front door? The Lewis County Historical Society is gearing up for its Home for the Holiday Festival. Next, let’s hear how Watertown International Airport celebrated its 10th anniversary of commercial airline service with American Airlines. Up next, let’s find out what kind of invasive species of worm known to ravage soil and plants has been found in Jefferson County. It’s time for the holiday cheers as Ogdensburg’s Holiday Light up the Night parade will take on a ‘save the prison’ theme. At the end of the episode, we will share with you the latest updates of COVID 19 in Jefferson County. Also, let’s show some love and support to our local businesses especially during this pandemic as we give the spotlight to 2 businesses in Watertown this week. All that and more today for this week’s Watertown365 podcast.
Winter high school sports practice begins
The winter high school sports season kicked off with practice Monday as teams prepare for their coming campaigns. One of the teams beginning preseason practice was the Watertown volleyball team. Coach Robin Boomhower had both JV and varsity squads working out together.
With COVID still an issue for indoor sports, Watertown is taking the necessary precautions to get a full season in.
“This is the best thing that could possibly happen for me as a coach and for the athletes,” Boomhower said. “To be able to have right now a regular season that is going to go off the way it normally would. I think between sanitizing the balls, sanitizing our hands, making sure we’re wearing the masks, and just trying to stay healthy, everybody’s going to have a great year.”
Crows return to invade downtown Watertown
Crows are back and causing a mess in downtown Watertown.
Every year around this time, thousands of crows flock to Watertown, where their feces and noise disturb residents and business owners.
Cody Baciuska from Loom Acres Wildlife Management comes to harass the crows, or kill them if harassment isn’t successful.
He uses lasers, distress calls, paintballs, and fireworks to disperse them.
Baciuska says he hazes the crows a few days each month and alerts police beforehand, so his pyrotechnics aren’t mistaken for gunshots.
He says the crow problem will never go away entirely, but his methods are helping.
Years ago, Baciuska says the crow population in Watertown was around 20,000. Now he estimates it’s about 5,000.
He says if you have crows congregating at your home, you can contact him at airportwildlife.com.
Home for the Holiday Festival coming up at Lewis County Historical Society
The Lewis County Historical Society is gearing up for its Home for the Holiday Festival.
The festival is free to attend and people can check out Christmas trees and wreaths decorated by local businesses, gingerbread houses made by area students, and model train displays.
There will also be a silent auction for the Christmas trees and wreaths. Proceeds from the auction go to the historical society.
The festival will be held the next 3 Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the historical society at 7552 South State Street in Lowville.
As part of the event, the Adirondack Community Chorus will present a concert at the First Presbyterian Church in Lowville on December 4 at 7 p.m.
Watertown airport celebrates 10 years with American Airlines
The Watertown International Airport is celebrating its 10th anniversary of commercial airline service with American Airlines.
Since its first flight on November 17, 2011, more than 390,000 passengers have flown on American Airlines flights from the local airport.
A celebration was held at the airport Wednesday with balloons, cupcakes and a cake cutting.
Passengers on hand for the occasion said they like using the airline and airport because of the free parking, short lines and the staff.
Airport officials gave a special shout-out to all of its passengers, American Airlines staff, TSA, and airport staff for a successful 10 years.
Invasive worm found in Jefferson County…and that’s not good
An invasive species of worm known to ravage soil and plants has been found in Jefferson County.
It’s called the Asian jumping worm and it first made an appearance in the north country when it was found in St. Lawrence County in 2018.
Now, another confirmed case has officials worried there could be more to come.
“They’ve been in this country for a while, but they have become invasive and they are starting to pop up in more and more places,” said Sue Gwise, horticulture educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County.
A homeowner in Jefferson County spotted the worm on their property and brought it to CCE.
“We sent it down to Colgate University and had it positively IDed by a biologist and it indeed was the Asian jumping worm,” said Gwise.
She says the jumping worms, so named because they thrash about, devour matter in the soil that supply essential nutrients to things like plants, ultimately damaging the roots and causing plant growth to falter.
Gwise says what’s also worrisome is the way the worms spread.
“If people trade plants, if they move soil that can be on tools or on equipment, anything where you are moving soil can transfer these worms from one location to another,” she said.
How can you tell if your worms are Asian jumping worms? It depends on the color of the worm’s band.
“With the Asian jumping worm, this band is white in color and it’s not raised. It’s almost flat,” said Gwise.
She says they also reproduce quickly, infesting the soil at a rapid rate. But, there are ways to flush them out to see how bad your outbreak may be.
“What they can do is they can take a third of a cup of ground mustard and mix it in a gallon of water and slowly pour that over the soil’s surface and what that does is irritates the worms and drives them to the surface,” said Gwise.
There is no way to treat the soil once remnants of the worm have been found. But, Gwise urges anyone who thinks they may have Asian jumping worms to bring a sample to their local cooperative extension to be examined.
Ogdensburg’s holiday parade to highlight saving the prison
Ogdensburg’s Holiday Light up the Night parade will take on a ‘save the prison’ theme.
Saturday’s parade will be dedicated to the 268 men and women who work at Ogdensburg Correctional Facility.
The state announced on November 8 that the prison will close. Corrections officers will march in the parade and signs of support will be handed out.
Immediately after the parade, a rally to support keeping the prison open will be held at the Ogdensburg Mall parking lot.
“A lot of these people will be being displaced or having to move and we’re trying to prevent that. So, if we can support them during the parade, we’re all for it,” said Rhonda Roethel, “Light up the Night” organizer. “It’s going to be a great parade. We got floats, all kinds of firetrucks, people will be giving out candy and stuff. So it’s going to be a fun parade. Everybody loves it.”
This will be the 10th “Holiday Light Up the Night” parade. It’s sponsored by the Lion’s Club and the city of Ogdensburg.
208 new COVID cases reported in the region
There were no new COVID deaths to report in the tri-county region Wednesday.
However, there are plenty of new infections.
St. Lawrence County reports 101 new cases and 23 people hospitalized.
Jefferson County has 79 new cases and 18 in the hospital.
In Lewis County, there are 28 new cases and hospitalizations rose to 17.
Business Spotlight
Rogers’ Hometown Pizzeria
Location: 4 West Church Street Adams, New York
Tel. No.: 315-232-3000
Hours: Monday – Closed
Tuesday – Thursday 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Friday – Saturday 3:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Sunday – 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Rogers’ Hometown only serves the best pizza and wings in town. Rogers’ takes pride with their finest ingredients. Their dough is hand stretched daily. The secret recipe pizza sauce is mixed fresh each day! Your pizza crusts come in traditional or thick upon request.
Diamond Storage
Whether you’re looking for a Self Storage Unit to store your valuable personal belongings, or managing logistics for your business, Diamond Storage is your complete resource for home or business self storage in Watertown! Diamond Storage. They have built the business around making sure they have fixed these typical problems, and has ensured 100% customer satisfaction guarantee.
Location: Diamond Self Storage 24561 New York 37
Tel. No: 315-788-3036
Hours: offers 24 hour access, rentals and payments through their onsite Kiosk.