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ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS/ NEW MARKET PRESS PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron

Saturday,ÊO ctoberÊ3,Ê2015

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In REGION | pg. 18

Tedesco on tour

80 year-old Dr. has walked 400 miles

www.SunCommunityNews.com

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In OPINION | pg. 6

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In SPECIALS | pg. 12-13

Checkpoint Breast Cancer should check out Awareness Month North Hudson patrol point should not open

ILH offers mammography technology

Warrensburg man honored for ‘selfless, heroic’ actions Award comes after life saving attempt in June By Ryan Edwards

ryan@suncommunitynews.com

WARRENSBURG — It’s a Wednesday in June, 2015. Brandon Smith, 29, of Warrensburg, is descending Crane Mountain. Along his way he encounters two men on their way to the summit. Crane is pretty quiet in June, before the flood of hikers filter in for the summer rush, he thinks to himself. Especially on a Wednesday.

Smith exchanges pleasantries with the two men — both considerably older than him, but in great shape, he observes. They’re outdoorsmen, he concludes, like him. They’ve been exploring the Adirondacks together for years, they tell him. He warns the men to be careful — there are some slippery spots up ahead. Then they continue on their separate ways. In four days, on Sunday, June 14, one of those hikers, Bill LaPrairie of Thurman, would die in Smith’s arms. That Sunday at around noon, Smith was enjoying the sun at a popular swimming spot on the Hudson River before his shift at Blue

Water Manor in Bolton. Two kayakers came paddling by, a regular occurrence at this spot, known in the local vernacular as “The Point.” There is a name among paddlers for the swift stretch of rapids at The Point as well — “Swimmer’s Spot,” as it is known for tipping kayaks and canoes and sending their occupants into the water, particularly when its water-level reaches perilous heights in the spring. Smith gave a casual wave to the paddlers and rested his head back down on his towel. A moment later, when the second kayak, operated by LaPrairie, was overturned, it appeared to Smith that the two men had everything under control. The man in front

was on his way to retrieve the stray kayak, and LaPrairie was in the water swimming for shore. Seconds later, when he looked again, Smith saw that LaPrairie was no longer swimming, but floating face down in the water. Smith immediately dove into the rapids to retrieve him, but was swept over 100 yards downriver by the current. Barefoot, he exited the water and traversed the rocky riverside terrain back upriver, collapsing along the way, and re-entered the water, where he successfully retrieved and carried the man to the river’s edge and hoisted him onto a rocky ledge, nearly drowning himself in the >> Story Continued | pg. 3

New ebook revisits Ethan Allen Tragedy Author contends a cover-up was involved By Ryan Edwards

ryan@suncommunitynews.com

With the smoke from their muskets rising behind them, weekend warriors participating in the re-enactment of the Battle of Lake George pause to re-load during a skirmish in Lake George Battlefield Park. Three hundred re-enactors, many of them members of the French & Indian War Society, camped out for up to four days in the park in linen tents — and garbed in historic clothing — for this weekend’s replay of the 1755 battle on its 260th anniversary. Photo by Thom Randall

LAKE GEORGE — A new ebook by a local journalist raises unanswered questions regarding the tragic sinking of the Ethan Allen tourboat on Lake George on October 2, 2005, which killed 20 senior citizens and constituted the largest boating loss of life in New York State. The boat was carrying 47 passengers from a tourist group called the Trenton Travelers, consisting of mostly seniors from Michi-

gan and Ohio, on a fall foliage tour of the lake when it capsized and sank. The average age of the passengers on board was 76. Journalist and publisher of the North Country Gazette, June Maxam of Chester has written over 250 articles on the tragedy in the intervening decade. She recently completed her book on the ship’s sinking and the subsequent police and National Transportation Safety Board investigation, titled “Death Cruise on Lake George.” In her book, Maxam asserts the official story of the Ethan Allen does not align with her findings, supported by photos, witness and survivor interviews, testimony

from the captain and owners of the boat, and other evidence she says was withheld from the public. “Do I believe there was a coverup? Absolutely, and I spell out why in the book,” she told the Adirondack Journal. “Too many egos and personal agendas. It was a case >> Story Continued | pg. 4


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