Mule Day’s Magnificent Mules – by S. McBride

All of us who grew up in this area a few years back know that song which was written by Thomas Allen back in 1905.  We sang it in school.  It was Americana. For us in the Mechanicville-Stillwater-Waterford-Halfmoon area, it was our own history.  We live in an area where a century and a half ago the Erie Canal and the Champlain Canal were both life-giving arteries that made transportation, settlement and commerce possible throughout northern and central New York in the days before there were planes, trains and automobiles, big trucks and superhighways. The barges and passenger boats that plied the waters of these amazing canals in the 19th and early 20th centuries were for the most part powered by mules walking the towpaths.

Read the entire article in the Oct. 9th issue of the Express.

City Approves New Stop Signs, Moratorium on Tag Days – by T. Mahoney

MECHANICVILLE JULY 2- Mechanicville DPW will be paid from NYSEG to do the black topping to cover the holes they have dug for the gas replacement lines.

Chief Waldron recommended that the City increase fines for truck traffic penalties.Many trucks have not been following the posted signs in the City. He suggested that the first offense go from $50 to the $150-$250 range; 2nd offense $250 -$350; and 3rd offense $350. This will require an amendment to the City Code. Waldron believes the current fines are so small that it is easier to pay the fine than to take the 9 mile re routing. The extra truck traffic on Main may be the cause of the water main breaks.

Read the entire article in the July 10th issue of the Express.