Scripts and sounds for WGXC radio hosts to play on the WGXC Morning Show or WGXC Afternoon Show. Breaking news, features, local audio, video, analysis, music, links to events in Greene and Columbia counties, NY. www.wgxc.org
Panel: Act now on health care reform planning
Barbara Pinckney of the Albany Business Review reports on a Friday, April 8 Power Breakfast on health care reform put on by the publication that featured Maggie Moree, director of federal affairs for the Business Council of New York State, James Connolly, CEO of Ellis Medicine in Schenectady, and Dr. John Bennett, CEO of Capital District Physicians Health Plan in Albany. All agreed that it was time to take the new law seriously, despite political and legal challenges. Moree said employers need to plan now for new W2 rules, Medicaid tax changes and other provisions scheduled to take effect over the next few years. “As business owners you are part of the solution,” Bennett said. “All care is local. You will solve this problem with us.” He later added that rate increases will mirror the rise in medical costs—just as they did before the reform act. The reform act itself, he said, did nothing to control medical costs. Connolly said businesses need to stop thinking of health care as a “purchasing decision” and start investing in employee wellness and become engaged in looking at the data for their workers, to know what their employees are consuming and how much it costs. About 250 businesspeople were in attendance.
Division mirrors House
Leigh Hornbeck writes in the Times Union about the ways in which two local congressmen have been offering starkly different narratives on the possibility of federal shutdown. U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, voted Thursday in favor of a GOP-backed continuing resolution that would fund the Department of Defense for the rest of the fiscal year while cutting current spending by $12 billion. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, voted against the measure, which passed 247-181. “Rather than pointing fingers, I want to see us come to an agreement. I don’t want to see either side dig in so we shut down the government,” Gibson said. But then he pointed fingers, noting how, “the last Congress didn’t make a single cut.” Tonko countered by pointing out that the previous Congress made $41 billion in cuts during the lame-duck session at the end of 2010 and have proposed $33 billion in additional reductions that are now on the table. “We have moved three-quarters of the way toward their original request” for $100 billion in cuts, said Tonko. “You don’t get everything you want at the negotiating table.” Tonko said Republicans were guilty of “moving the goal line” due to “the reckless, insensitive and extreme response from the tea party…. It’s not about the numbers, it’s about politics — petty, partisan politics.”
Catskill man charged with sexual abuse of 4-year-old
Colin DeVries reports in the Daily Mail on a 28-year-old Catskill village man charged with sexually abusing a 4-year-old Catskill girl. Peter J. Lentz was arrested after the Catskill Police Department received information that Lentz had been abusing the girl over a period of time. In the midst of a longer investigation, Lentz was found in possession of a substantial amount of child pornography on personal computers, police said. He faces a charge of first-degree sexual abuse, a class D felony, and possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child, a class E felony. Lentz was arraigned before Athens Town Justice James Robinson and remanded to the Greene County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash and $50,000 bond.
ITW to bring 25 new jobs to Millerton
Whitney Joseph, editor of The Millerton News, writes that a new business moving into the Route 22 corridor will bring two dozen new jobs to the WGXC listening area. ITW, or Illinois Tool Works, Inc., will be expanding its local presence from a current Lakeville, CT plant by opening a second operation in a 25,000-square-foot space at Arnoff Moving and Storage on Route 22, just south of the Columbia County line. The ITW division that is moving to Millerton will be producing “seating components for the automotive industry,” according to a press release. They are expecting to hire 25 local workers.
Environmentalist Tim DeChristopher, and founder of Peaceful Uprising, who was recently convicted on two felony counts for disrupting an auction of more than 100,000 acres of federal land for oil and gas drilling, spoke at Bard College Mon. Apr. 4. WGXC Christina Malisoff and Sam Sebren recorded DeChristopher’s lecture, and interviewed him afterwards. On December 19, 2008, DeChristopher posed as a bidder at a BLM land auction in Salt Lake City, and purchased 22,000 acres of land to prevent the Bush administration from selling oil and gas exploitation rights on vast swaths of federal land. He faces up to 10 years in prison, but is touring universities talking about environmental issues. Bard Center for Environmental Policy brought him to speak in the school’s Multipurpose room in the Campus Center. Click here to listen to Sebren interview DeChristopher after the talk.
Awareness key to progress against sexual violence
The Daily Freeman has a story about a presentation given by Dutchess County Family Services where it was acknowledged that many abuse victims still never report the crime and that creating greater awareness of what’s involved in sexual abuse may get more victims to step forward. District Attorney William Grady said a big step forward is more humane treatment of the victim, who should no longer traumatized by having to wait in a public emergency room with a police officer. Local hospitals, he added, are finally starting to set up private ways of treating such patients. The event was attended by law enforcement and social services officials. Also announced was an upcoming “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event, in which men literally walk a mile in women’s shoes to raise awareness about sexual assault and support survivors. The event is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 30 at Marist College in Poughkeepsie.
Ulster starts ball rolling to form inter-county emergency communications system
Mid Hudson News Network reports that the Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee of the Ulster County Legislature has approved the first step toward joining other Hudson Valley counties in the formation of an emergency communications consortium. The six-county group is working towards fulfilling a state directive to address communications with a regional approach. The goal is to enable emergency services agencies to communicate on the same radio channels in the counties of Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester. Maybe Columbia and Greene should start a similar effort?
Redistricting reforms constitutional, group says
Stephanie Lee of the Times Union writes that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s call for a nonpartisan redistricting system has been deemed constitutional… by leaders of a redistricting reform campaign. “Organizers of ReShapeNY presented a legal memo from Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP that defends the constitutionality of the governor’s proposed bipartisan legislative committee, which would draw redistricting lines without consideration to political advantage,” Lee writes. “ReShapeNY is organized by good-government groups that include Citizens Union, the New York Public Interest Group and the League of Women Voters.” Cuomo’s plan is backed by 89 members of the Assembly, where Democrats hold the majority of the seats. The challenge to his plan’s constitutionality comes from Senate Republicans, who have proposed to create a redistricting panel that wouldn’t draw lines until 2022. New lines will be drawn in 2012, in wake of the just-released census data.
Albany NanoTech awarded $57.5M for solar research
Robin K. Cooper of the Albany Business Journal reports that the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering will receive $57.5 million in federal money for solar-cell research and development. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the award on April 5. SUNY Albany will use the same technology it uses for computer-chip innovation to help make New York a hub for photovoltaic research, the university says. Sen. Charles Schumer had pushed for $100 million in federal funds to help form a Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium with more than 80 corporate and university partners, which mirrors similar efforts in the Mid-Hudson Valley being pushed by Congressman Maurice Hinchey.
Final village gavel sounds
Melanie Lekocevic of the Daily Mail reports that the Athens Village Court was officially dissolved on Monday, April 4 when Village Justice David Cole’s term of office concluded. “All cases that used to go before the Village Court will, from now on, come before the Town Court instead,” she writes. “Village officials, police and court personnel have held a series of meetings to ensure the consolidation went smoothly, and to make sure tickets and violations are all answerable to the Town Court.”
Contempt of court charge gets dropped
Andrew Amelinckx writes in the Register-Star that a criminal contempt of court charge was dropped against Columbia County Department of Social Services commissioner Paul Mossman, after he agreed to adopt policy changes for DSS. Mossman was facing criminal contempt charges for the alleged failure of DSS to follow a March 3 court order relating to a social services case involving two young children in foster care. The order had required that DSS provide the two children, age 6 and 7, with 24-hour supervision. Mossman has agreed to instill and oversee better communication within the agency as well as with other involved parties.
Legislation to protect against domestic violence announced
Mid Hudson News Network reports that State Senator Steve Saland, who represents most of Columbia and Dutchess counties, announced the passage of several pieces of legislation that enhance the safety and the amount of protection available to victims of domestic violence, as well as redefining key language that strengthens law enforcements’ ability to intervene “before things escalate.” The announcement came at a press conference in Poughkeepsie on April 4 in honor of Domestic Violence Advocacy Day. Leah Feldman, chairwoman of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence, said there have been four domestic violence related homicides in Dutchess County since July, some of which may have ended differently had the victims been better protected by the system. In three out of these four instances, she said, the victims were making attempts to leave their abusers. Last month, one such instance ended up in a tragic murder/suicide that took three lives in the vicinity of the Poughkeepsie train station.
Bad News from the HCSD Budget Workshop
Carole Osterink of Gossips of Rivertown has the first report out on the April 4 Hudson School District budget workshop – the last before the board votes on a final budget on April 11. $300,000 in leftover capital reserve funds will be used to keep the local tax levy increase “to a mere 12.6 percent,” according to Osterink. That’s with 28 positions eliminated… and after quite a bit of internal dissension from board members.
2011-12 budget: Classroom cuts and an unprecedented tax levy increase
Lynn Slonecker takes a different look at the same figures, before the meeting, in her Unmuffled blog. She finds that despite board assurances that “everything was fair game, the cost-saving measures recommended focus on the classroom. None of the cuts will result in an average class size greater than 30 students (class size is contractually limited), but the loss of personnel will have an impact, especially at the primary level.” She adds that no serious cuts were recommended in the school’s administration. A formal board vote on the budget is expected next week. The public’s annual budget vote and school board election is May 17.
Pondering Hudson Correctional’s future Jamie Larson writes in the Register-Star about the checkered future of the Hudson Correctional Facility, and whether it will survive current budget cuts to state prisons. In addition to noting that part of Hudson’s recent population drop, according to U.S. Census figures, can be attributed to drops in the prison population over the past decade, he speaks with Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera, a former correctional officer at the prison, who suggests the facility may be on the block. In other news of late, major new construction projects at the state’s other big prison in the area, Greene County’s Coxsackie Correctional Facility, suggest no changes there.
Nothing to sniff at: Canine adds new tool at Greene County Sheriff’s Office
Ariel Zangla-Girard of the Daily Freeman has a feature story on the training of Blaze, a 2-year-old German Shepherd that the Greene County Sheriff’s Office purchased on March 5, 2010. The dog and his handler, Deputy Gregory Stewart, completed training in April 2010 and were certified for road patrol work by the end of last June. In the past year dog and handler have found a lost Alzheimers patient in the Village of Catskill and a suicide who had burned his mother’s home in Athens. In a few months, Zangla-Girard adds, Blaze will get his state certification for narcotics work, something Stewart said he is excited about.
Escaped state prisoner recaptured
Mid Hudson News Network has a bit more about the Hudson prison break on Saturday night, April 2. Prison officials at the Hudson Correctional Facility called State Police at Livingston at 10:11 p.m. reporting the escape of inmate Daniel Tariol, 25, who fled into a wooded area adjacent to the work release facility where he was incarcerated. A head count of the inmates revealed his disappearance. He was then located at about 10:40 p.m. and charged with escape in the first degree. Tariol was serving one to three years at Hudson Correctional on a conspiracy charge.
Coxsackie man charged with church arson
Colin DeVries has a story in the Daily Mail about 25-year-old Evan David Donnelly, a one-time resident of Coxsackie, who has been charged in the arson and burglary of a church in Pennsylvania. He has been charged with arson, burglary and institutional vandalism and was apprehended after being observed driving in circles in a field, while bleeding from cuts and scars. Turns out he tried setting fire to a Lutheran Church and ran his Subaru into a non-denominational Bible Church nearby. His passport was found in fire debris in the Lutheran Church and Donnelly said he did what he did, “because someone told him to do it.”
Conference brings area trailblazers together
John Mason of the Register-Star reports on the Columbia Land Conservancy’s daylong conference on Columbia County Trails that drew 70 to the Columbia-Greene Community College on Saturday, April 2. Promises made for progress on a long-planned extension of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail system north of Millerton, as well as creation of a shorter trail in the Kinderhook area.
Bureaucracy still hasn’t corrected 2000 census error in Ulster County
Adam Bosch of the Times Herald Record reports that a paperwork error committed during production of the 2000 census that put state correctional facility populations from one town into another has new ramifications as the effected towns showed huge drops and gains in population in the 2010 count. “The original mistake was caught by Ulster County officials when block-by-block data showed roughly 1,000 people living in a batch of trees in Saugerties,” Bosch writes. “Those people were actually behind bars in Wawarsing.” “I don’t have a good reason for why we don’t correct things,” census spokesman Robert Bernstein told Bosch when Saugerties showed a significant loss in population for the 2010 census, after a decade of growth, while Warwarsing showed gains, despite losing over 700 people.
Board of Education meeting
Carole Osterink of Gossips of Rivertown reminds us that the Hudson City School District’s Board of Education meets Monday, April 4, at 7 p.m., in the Hudson High School Cafeteria. “This apparently is the last meeting before a special meeting scheduled for April 11 at which the BOE votes on the 2011-2012 school budget,” she writes. “Remarkably, in this devastated economy, it appears that the budget for 2011-2012 may be increasing by 1.7 percent over 2010-2011, from $40,932,878 to $41,629,018, while the revenue from local property taxes may be increasing by 14.3 percent, from $17,538,876 to $20,051,754.”
Cody Mellott, Wes Gillingham, and Mark Ruffalo at Bard College. Photo by Sam Sebren.
WGXC’s Sam Sebren recorded a question and answer session from activists campaigning against hydraulic fracturing drilling for natural gas in New York at Bard College. He reports:
A standing-room only crowd of students, faculty, local residents, and activists filled the 350 seat Olin Auditorium at Bard College Thur., March 31 for a screening of the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, “Gasland.” After the movie there was a Q&A session with Wes Gillingham, Program Director of Catskill Mountainkeeper; Mark Ruffalo, actor and activist, and Sullivan County resident; and Cody Mellott, Bard student in their Environmental Studies program whose family in Pennsylvania has leased land to gas drilling companies.
Anti-hydraulic fracturing natural gas drilling activists are ramping up their efforts in advance of a large rally in Albany April 11. There is another screening of “Gasland” locally this week, Thursday night at Catskill High School. Click here to listen to the full recording of the question and answer session.
Officials question re-val vendors
Melanie Lekocevic of the Register-Star reports that the Athens Town Council has been interviewing firms to undertake a townwide tax revaluation. “Re-vals,” she writes, “are conducted to ensure all properties in a municipality are assessed fairly so that all property owners pay their fair share in taxes.” Town board memebrs found out that the entire process takes roughly 15 to 18 months. Bids for the project ranged from $93,000 to well over $200,000.
Baseball player sprains ankle on high school field
Andrew Amelinckx writes in the Register-Star about a Hudson High School baseball player spraining an ankle in a pothole on the school district’s playing field. What makes this news? Earlier in the week, angry parents came out demanding that the team keep playing at Greenport Park because the high school facilities weren’t up to par, a charge the school board said was untrue. Amelinckx adds that the matter will now be discussed, again, at the next Board of Ed meeting on Monday, April 4.
Neglected for decades, Hanover Hill burns to a crisp
Stephen Kaye writes in the Millbrook Independent about one of the last great farms along the Route 22 corridor in northern Dutchess County burning to the ground on the afternoon of March 26, setting off a cloud of smoke seen for miles beyond the Harlem River Valley. “An eyesore seen by hundreds of motorists driving on Route 22, the 120-foot main barn with hip roof had been abandoned and falling down for years,” Kaye writes. “Hanover Hill Farm was, until 1968, a showplace, producing some of the finest dairy cattle in the country. In 1972 it was sold to Tony and Theresa Indriolo who owned an automobile business in Yonkers. They had never before run a dairy farm. The property ran down through neglect…” Fire companies from Millerton, Pine Plains, Connecticut and elsewhere, over a half dozen in total, fought the blaze for three hours.
Cuomo, leaders announce $132.5 billion budget deal
Rick Karlin of the Times Union reports that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state’s legislative leaders — plus a handful of rank-and-file lawmakers — appeared in the state capitol’s Red Room Sunday afternoon, March 27, to announce an agreement on the 2011-12 budget that lays out a roughly $132.5 billion spending plan for the state. The adjusted plan, after miscellaneous other cuts and additions, offers a net increase from the budget proposal of about $250 million and represents a 2 percent cut in spending over the current fiscal year. The major changes from the governor’s budget proposal include $272 million in restorations for education. Karlin adds that, “there’s a long list of things left out of the budget that certain groups would like to see put in: no millionaires tax; and no New York City rent-control extensions or expansions. Expect further heated discussions in each house as ratification proceeds…
Catskill Creek Watershed organization mulls microbe study
Colin DeVries reports that a study on precisely how many dangerous microbes may exist in the Catskill Creek, which provides water for the village, is being considered. “The grassroots Catskill Creek Watershed Awareness Project committee met last week to discuss sampling areas of Greene County’s primary watershed for enterococcus organisms,” DeVries reports on New York Riverkeeper’s presentation of preliminary logistical and financial information on the study that showed difficult results. “In March 2008, the state Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Conservation performed a dye and video camera inspection of the storm drainage systems after reports of contamination in the Catskill Creek near Leeds. The inspection revealed that harmful contaminants from the septic leachate in the area had been infiltrating the creek, prompting review of a public sewer system through the hamlet.”
Valatie man jumps from Route 203 bridge
The Register-Star reports that a 45-year-old man jumped from the Route 203 bridge in Valatie on Sunday morning, March 27 at around 11 a.m. He was transported by Life-Net helicopter to Albany Medical Center shortly after noon for evaluation. According to a press release from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the man was found standing on the shore with no visible injuries.
Schools in region to make up for extra snow days
The Daily Freeman has a rundown of what seems to be left in terms of upcoming April school vacations in the area. In Greene County, some school officials were still deciding how to make up snow days. April 18-22 was the originally scheduled break period. Catskill students will have a spring vacation from April 20-22 but lost April 18 and 19 as days off. The Coxsackie-Athens school district’s spring break remains intact from April 18 to 22. Hunter-Tannersville students are on vacation from April 18 to 22 but lost April 25. Cairo-Durham’s spring break is from April 18 to 22, though this is subject to change. In Germantown, April 18 and 19 will be made up for snow days. In Hudson and at Taconic Hills School Districts, schools will be open and classes will be in session on Wednesday, April 20, and Thursday, April 21, as snow day make-up dates. In Chatham, a make-up day will occur on April 21 during a week otherwise taken up with vacation days. In Northern Dutchess, the Red Hook school district used seven snow days when eight were budgeted, and the makeup day will be May 27, which also seems to be the case at Ichabod Crane Central Schools in Kinderhook. The Pine Plains school district used nine snow days when six were budgeted, resulting in a scheduled half day on April 15 now being a full day.
UAlbany turns three majors into minors
The Albany Business Journal has a piece about how graduate studies in several languages, plus classics, are being dropped because of budget considerations. Goodbye French and Russian, plus theater.
ICC board raises no objection to closing two schools
Emilia Teasdale reports in The Columbia Paper that the administration at Ichabod Crane schools in Kinderhook have made an official recommendation to close both the Martin Van Buren and Martin H. Glynn elementary schools, moving all students to the main campus on Route 9. It seems that busing for those who live within a two-mile radius from the schools will be continued, along with full day kindergarten. A full budget will be presented on Tuesday, March 29, when a final decision to close the elementary schools will also be made.
Public Hearing on Union and First
Carole Osterlink of The Gossips of Rivertown reports on the standing room only March 24 Hudson Historic Preservation Commission public hearing on the issue of a construction project being proposed by the Galvan Partners for Union and First streets in the city’s First Ward, held at City Hall. Comments ranged from those who characterized the neighborhood as becoming nicer to those who complained about continuing problems at the site in question, as well as the developers’ other unfilled projects. The lawyer for the developers, it seems, lectured both the Commission and several members of the public about what could be discussed and not. The Hudson Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on theproject on April 20.
Town signs contract with Pace to develop Climate Action Plan
The Register-Star is running a piece about how officials in the Northern Dutchess County Town of Red Hook recently signed a contract with Pace Law School’s Energy and Climate Center (PECC) to develop and implement a Climate Action Plan, and has begun taking stock of the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases it emits. The PECC consultants will set a greenhouse gas reduction target for Red Hook, and develop an action plan to achieve that goal. Similar actions have started taking place in communities throughout Westchester County, while discussion has also started in Ulster County and elsewhere around the nation.
$1 million grant to fight Ulster obesity
Mid Hudson News Network reports on the awarding of a $1.01 million grant for a new Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work, and Play initiative to combat obesity and obesity related health issues starting with three communities in Ulster County. The monies, coming through Cornell Cooperative Extension with a match form Ulster County, will be used to effect a shift away from informational campaigns and towards “creating environments, in schools for example, that facilitate healthy living styles.”
Hein said that the best way to create healthy places in every community is by impacting the people. The three communities to be focused on will be Ellenville, Phoenicia, and Kingston. Pay attention, local legislators.
Cuomo: Prisons among the sticking points
Rick Karlin of the Times Union reports that Gov. Andrea Cuomo spoke on FRiday, March 25 about the budget process some thought would be completed this week, saying that there was still a lot of disagreement about how to slim down the state’s prison system. “When you close down prisons in many communities these are the economic engines,” he said. “Don’t underestimate the economic impact that closing prisons would have.” Cuomo went on to repeat that if there is no April 1 budget, he’ll put in the extender bill. If lawmakers reject, then there is a government shutdown. The battles, they do continue…
C-A slashes budget to bone
Melanie Lekocevic of the Register-Star reports that Interim District Superintendent Annemarie Barkman from the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District has presented the Board of Education with a trimmed to the bone budget that meets projected state figures for the 2011-2012 school year. The cuts are in response to reductions in state aid the district is expecting once the state budget is passed, and increases in expenses, primarily negotiated salary increases, employee benefits, transportation and BOCES. Should the budget be kept the same as last year, without any cuts to programs or staffing, the increase in the tax levy would be hefty – 12.77 percent. Most of what’s being proposed involved the teaching staff, and planned retirements, which led some in the audience to ask why the administrative staff isn’t taking the brunt of any of the budget difficulties.
Park would greet city, town visitors
Jamie Larson of the Register-Star writes about ongoing plans for a new pocket park to be built at the sharply angled intersection of Columbia Turnpike and Green Street in Greenport, right on the border of the city of Hudson, where a county-owned but abandoned home now stands. A group of local residents have proposed demolishing the building and replacing it with the Greenport-Hudson Gateway Park, which would include an archway with the word “WELCOME”, signs on either side saying “This way to Hudson” and “This way to Greenport” respectively, and hardy plants and flowers that could withstand the proximity to the road.
2010 CENSUS: Population up in local counties, state
The Daily Freeman, and other local papers, leads with a story on the release of new 2010 cenus information, finding that the region’s population grew by 5.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, and only one local county – Delaware – had a decline in residents during that period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Greene County had a population of 49,221, up from 48,195 in 2000, a gain of 2.1 percent; Columbia had 63,096, a gain of just two people from 63,094 in 2000; Dutchess County had 297,448, up from 280,150 in 2000, a gain of 6.2 percent; Ulster had 182,493, up from 177,749 in 2000, a gain of 2.7 percent. Delaware County lost 75 people, for a total of 47,980, similar to losses in the Mohawk Valley and Western New York. The City of Hudson lost 811 people, or almost 11 percent, for a current total of 6.713. The Town of Catskill lost 74 people for a current total of 11,775. The state’s population in 2010 was 19,378,102, a gain of 2.1 percent from 2000’s 18,976,457, the Census Bureau said. More on this info in the coming weeks…
Legislators optimistic of budget deal Friday
Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union reports that legislative leaders in Albany emerged from a closed-door meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo late on Thursday, March 24 optimistic that a budget agreement could be announced Friday, March 25… a week before its April 1 due date. The millionaire’s tax seems to have disappeared from talks, along with any renewal of New York City rent stabilization laws or a property tax cap. But that’s also with Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos taking the media lead, and longstanding Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver expressing some caution on pronouncements for the moment and the Governor staying mum for a day.
Report: Albany area loses 4,900 jobs
The Albany Business Journal reports that government job losses continue to choke the Capital Region’s economy, according to new state data. While area businesses continue to add jobs, albeit at a slower clip than most other areas of the state, job cuts in the public sector keeps overwhelming any of that growth. For the third month in a row, the core Capital Region had the largest job losses of the 13 metro areas in the state, when combining government and private-sector jobs. Right now, the fastest-growing job market in the state is in Kingston.
BOE looks to slim down
Francesca Olsen of the Register-Star writes that the county Board of Elections is planning to consolidate some of its 58 election districts and it will end up with around 51, according to the county’s election commissioners. “While no countywide plan has been finalized, the commissioners have a pretty good idea of what they’d like to do, and will be visiting town board meetings in the coming months to explain their plan to residents and officials,” Olsen reports. “The plan to consolidate districts will save around $32,000 annually, said Republican Commissioner Jason Nastke. That’s $3,750 for every district that’s eliminated and $1,000 for every poll site that’s eliminated. It will also give the BOE an opportunity to address accessibility issues at its poll sites.” The changes should be in place by Primary Day, September 13.
2 C-H trucks up in flames
Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail reports how an electrical fire destroyed two Central Hudson pickup trucks on March 24. He writes that Catskill Fire Chief Jonathan Dees said one of the two charred trucks had not been used for over a week and recently had its electrical system repaired, and that the fire likely originated from a short in the electrical wiring. The vehicle was eventually completely engulfed at the power company’s substation off Route 9W outside the village of Catskill. The fire from the first truck, which was a Dodge Ram, then spread to the Chevrolet pickup truck beside it.
Chatham police chief retires after 35 years
Emilia Teasdale of The Columbia Paper reports that Village Police Chief Kevin Boehme has retired after 35 years on the force. His retirement became official as of 3 p.m. on Monday March 21 even though Boehme filed the paperwork to retire last fall, said Village Clerk/Treasurer Carol Simmons. No one knows whether there will be a new chief. The department has a deputy chief, Mark Leggett, who will stay in that position. Boehme’s older brother, Paul, is the current mayor of the village and will hold that post until the first Monday in April.
The National Weather Service has announced a Winter Storm Warning to remain in effect primarily for Greene and Ulster counties until N12 noon on Thursday, March 24. Heavy wet now with accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are expected for the Catskill Mountains and environs into Thursday morning, although impacts into more snow and poor visibility will make for dangerous travel and roads in the mountains will become snow covered and very slippery. Heavy wet snow may cause some isolated downed tree limbs and power lines resulting in power outages. Strong winds are also possible. For Columbia County and the Hudson Valley, the forecast is for two to four inches of similar wet, heavy snow, with clearing expected by noon tomorrow. School closings for tomorrow are already being announced for most area educational institutions.
The state budget battles come into the Hudson Valley today as a Rally To Save NYS with the Millionaires Tax gets set to take place in front of state Senator Steve Saland’s and Assemblymember Joel Miller’s offices at 3 Neptune Rd. Poughkeepsie (by Red Lobster just off Rt. 9) this afternoon, March 17, starting at 4:00 p.m. In addition to representing Dutchess County, Saland’s district covers Columbia County while Miller’s is solely within Dutchess. Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner (D-Clinton/Rhinebeck) was set to be in attendance, along with community activists Earl Brown, Mae Parker-Harris, Mary Spriggs, and possibly a contingent from Columbia County. The effort is to convince the state Senate, and Assembly Democrats, to find ways of adding revenue that would be lost should a current tax surcharge for those making over $200,000 per year lapse instead of cutting education, healthcare, and other key programs.
Flooding remains a concern in region
The Daily Freeman is looking hard at the weather, noting that sunny skies aren’t expected until Monday. They highlight flood warnings in along the Wallkill River in New Paltz, and planned water releases from the Ashokan reservoir into the Esopus Creek… as well as a wind advisory for western Ulster and western Greene counties that would affect mostly the higher terrains, with winds of 25 to 35 mph, and gusts up to 45 to 55 mph predicted overnight in the Catskill Mountains. A state of emergency has been declared in Shandaken. Roads flooded on Monday in Columbia County are also expecvted to get repeat flooding today and tomorrow.
Dealing with the fallout of flooding
The Register-Star has a story about the things one should be aware of when surviving floods, from the avoidance of contaminated water and food to turning the power off in one’s basement before evacuating a house, clean-up tips, and ensuring that one stays attentive to cleaning any minor wounds because of the threat of infection from flood waters.
Cuts in state aid hit C-A district hard
Melanie Lekocevic reports in the Daily Mail that the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District is looking for ways it can trim down its budget, facing rising costs for salaries, which will increase by $610,000, employee benefits, which will rise by $680,000, transportation, and a BOCES’ increase in addition to sliced aid. This is THE topic of the year, and possibly our younger generation…
We just didn’t salt away enough
The Times Union has a story about how Capital Region communities have scraped the bottoms of their salt barrels to clear away the 83.6 inches of snow and ice that have piled up this winter.
USDA: Let’s revise lunch
Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star has been asking around to see how local school districts in Columbia County are reacting to the recent proposal by the United States Department of Agriculture to change the way school children eat, and has found that while many are enthusiastic about offering more fresh fruits and vegetables, they are also worrying we may not be able to afford such healthiness.
Assembly proposing a bona fide millionaire’s tax
The Times Union’s Capitol Confidential notes that the state Assembly is drafting a budget plan to be introduced next week with an actual millionaire’s tax, meaning that people at seven figures of income and above would be assessed an additional surcharge above the rest of taxpayers. The measure dovetails with similar calls from the GOP-dominated State Senate, and may work to whittle away the state deficit via revenue, despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s state opposition to renewing such taxes on the wealthy.
NY among country’s healthiest states
Need some good news? The Albany Business Journal reports that a new Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index report says 25 percent—one-in-four—of New York residents are obese, putting it below the national average of 26.6 percent. The state with the lowest obesity rate was Colorado, where 20 percent of its residents are obese. The south and upper Midwest have the worst obesity rates, at present.
Where to find shelter, supplies
The Register-Star reports that the Red Cross Shelter at the Taconic Hills High School on County Route 11 in Craryville will close at 8 a.m. today so school can resume there, with a two hour delay. Two new shelters will be opening at the Taghkanic Fire Company on Route 82 in Taghkanic and the second one will be at the Copake Community Building located at the Copake Town Park on Mountain View Drive. Additionally, dry ice and water will be available at the Copake Fire Department located at 390 County Route 7A Copake or the Ancram Firehouse at 1306 County Route 7 Ancram. Several thousand are still without power in the area and local fire companies have been going door to door in the northeastern portion of Columbia County to check that folks are alright.
School officials look into future of employment
Colin DeVries of The Daily Mail reports that a delegation of Greene County school officials and economic developers toured the $4.6 billion GlobalFoundries semiconductor manufacturing facility being constructed north of Albany, getting a first-hand look at “the future of employment in the region.” GlobalFoundries, an international computer chip producer, will be hiring about 1,400 people by the end of 2012, many of whom will be educated at community colleges, receiving two-year degrees in electronics, science and semiconductor manufacturing. The Greene County Industrial Development Agency accompanied officials and school board members from Cairo-Durham Central School District, Coxsackie-Athens Central School District, Greenville Central School District, and BOCES Questar III.
Dems fire first volley at Molinaro
Mid Hudson News Network notes that regional Democrats have started firing shots at the just-announced candidacy of State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro for Dutchess County executive, with that county’s party chairwoman, Elisa Sumner, saying Molinaro is “unfit” to be county executive. Sumner pointed to an audit of the Village of Tivoli, where Molinaro served as mayor for 11 years after first being elected to the village board at the age of 18, noting the state comptroller’s office was critical of the municipality’s “financial condition.” She added that a few potential candidates have expressed interest in running for the county’s top job, some in government and others in business. New York State Bridge Authority Executive Director Joseph Ruggiero and Beekman Town Supervisor Daniel French have been mentioned as possible candidates on the Democratic ticket.
More snow days might mean canceled days off for schools
The Times Union looks into the situation regarding weather days in the Capitol District… as we’ve known here, none are left… meaning special days off are gone for the remainder of the year, with the probability growing that we’ll be pushing the 2011 school year up to its end-of-June legal limit this year.
Union, TH board relations deteriorate
John Mason of the Register-Star reports that relations between Taconic Hills school officials and its employee unions, already strained, took a turn for the worse last week when a board member claimed he was being personally attacked by the union, and a union president said he was physically threatened by the board member. On Friday, March 4, many teachers wore orange to school to signify “anti-bullying,” after Faculty Association President Kevin Reis filed a complaint with the police and the district alleging Board Vice-President George Lagonia Jr. had threatened him. The chain of events began with union officials filing a petition with the board seeking the removal of three Taconic Hills school board members for being employed by the district as sports coaches, or having siblings also on the board… citing State Education Law that stipulates that board members cannot be employed by the school board they belong to, and that no more than one family member shall be a member of the same board of education.
Changes seen for Farmers’ Market
The Daily Mail reports on a recent discussion about the coming Catskill Farmers Market by village officials, including the possible appointment of a market manager, which market participants don’t see the need of, and prospects of opening the market to those receiving federal assistance for food purchases.
Cops look for flasher
The Register-Star reports that New York State Police at Livingston are looking for a man who allegedly exposed himself to minor children while inside the Walmart department store at Greenport Commons on Feb. 24 between the hours of 7 and 8 p.m. The man was observed, authorities said, driving a red or maroon medium sized hatchback or small SUV style vehicle.
Marc Molinaro has declared he is running for Dutchess County Executive, increasing the likelihood of a special election for his Assembly seat, which represents much of Columbia County.
Get ready for a special election to elect a new Assemblyman for State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro’s 103rd District now that the former Tivoli Mayor has declared that he is running for Dutchess County Executive. Molinaro, R-Red Hook, made his formal announcement on Monday and sent formal letters to the county’s Republican, Conservative, and Independence committees of his intentions, according to the Daily Freeman. Meanwhile, at least one possible Republican opponent has dropped away from the race, increasing the odds of a win for the man who was elected a village trustee at age 18 and currently represents about two thirds of Columbia County in the state assembly. Last week, longtime Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus announced he will not seek election to a sixth four-year term in office. Molinaro said he made the decision to run after speaking with party leaders, “reaching out to a significant number of business and community leaders and most importantly speaking with Christy (his wife) and the rest of my family.” Molinaro, 36, was tapped by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to serve on Cuomo’s transition team and as a member of the state’s newly formed Mandate Relief Redesign Team, created by Cuomo to examine unfunded and underfunded mandates imposed by the state onto school districts, local governments and other local taxing entities. He has also been making joint appearances around the region with freshman GOP Congressman Chris Gibson.
Flooding, outages strike the county
The Register-Star reports, with text and plenty of images, on the weather damage caused by raging creeks, ice, and nearly six inches of snow in some areas. Over 11,000 were without power on Monday afternoon, March 7, with states of emergency declared in Ancram and Livingston. For those remaining without power Monday night and today, “warming centers” were opened at the Kinderhook Fire Station and Niverville Fire Station 1, and a Red Cross station set up at Taconic Hills School in Copake. Roads, which were blocked off into Hudson from most directions at one point, were being cleared for today as much as risen creeks would allow. Those who require more information about the Red Cross shelters should call 518-458-8111. Residents who need transportation to a shelter can call 518-828-1212.
Ice, snow, flooding batter Greene
The Daily Mail’s storm report is a simple photo of a car pulled over on the side of a road. Travel was difficult but, at least in valley towns, no power was lost, or major flooding reported.
Storm leaves outages, flooding; 2 rescued in New Paltz
The Daily Freeman highlighted downed trees and power lines in northern Dutchess and southern Columbia counties, as well as closed roads and a car rescue outside of New Paltz, in its storm coverage. About 6,500 were without power in Dutchess County, and two in Ulster. The worst part? They quote a meteorologist who notes that, ““Coming in Wednesday night through Thursday, another complicated storm, possibly becoming a Nor’easter. It could be another significant one.”
Thousands go to bed in the dark
The Times Union adds on to the power outage news, reporting National Grid’s estimate of hundreds of homes without power Monday evening, March 7, in Rensselear, Saratoga and Washington counties, as well as Columbia. NYSEG noted another 7,300 without power and suggested some might not get their lights back on until Wednesday.
Agency head raps release of Catskill man who later killed wife, cop
The Daily Freeman reports that Michele McKeon, chief executive officer of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, is saying that the Catskill man who fatally shot his wife and a Poughkeepsie city police officer before killing himself last month should not have been released on bail after he violated a court order mandating him to stay away from his spouse. More focus needs to be placed on perpetrators of domestic violence crimes and on holding them accountable for their actions, McKeon said, noting that as it stands now, more emphasis is placed on the victim and what they did to possibly cause violence or fail to escape from an abusive situation. The legal system tells the victim what they have to do to keep themselves and their children safe in such situations, but in no other crime do people look at the victim and ask them why they stayed or what buttons they pushed to cause the violence. “I think the systems involved need to take domestic violence much more seriously,” McKeon said, adding that proposed cuts to domestic abuse programs in Gov. Cuomo’s budget proposal could prove disastrous.
Kohl’s grand opening slated
John Mason of the Register-Star reports that Kohl’s Department Store, the newest store in Greenport Commons, will hold its grand opening Wednesday. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Kohl’s executives and local officials, will be at 7:45 a.m., followed by the official store opening at 8 a.m. The 64,000 square foot store is located next to the Lowe’s Home Improvement store.
Financial troubles may force choices
The Daily Mail has a story about how Cornell Cooperative Extension has combined its Columbia and Greene county offices to save money as a key means to keeping its ambitious Agroforestry Resource Center in Acra afloat. “It’s challenging times for all of us,” said Andrew Turner, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene counties, noting that things are no different the academic organization devoted to providing agricultural, environmental, health and youth programming to communities around the state, which has seen a $13 million decrease in the organization’s $100 million statewide budget over the past two years.
Observers see Molinaro as possible successor to Steinhaus
The Daily Freeman has a new angle on the announcement by longstanding Dutchess County County Executive William Steinhaus, who announced that he would not be seeking a sixth term this week. According to reporter Patricia Doxsey, State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, who also represents much of Columbia County, is seen by some Dutchess County politicos as the heir apparent even though the Red Hook Republican hasn’t announced his candidacy and has only said he’ll make a decision next week about whether to run. Molinaro, 36, has been involved in politics since 1994, when he was elected to the Tivoli Village Board at age 18. A year later, he was elected village mayor. He then served on the Dutchess County Legislature before being elected to the state Assembly in the 103rd District.
Correctional experts: prison programs need revamping
It’s no secret that there is lots of substance abuse in prisons, notes a piece by the Times Union’s Rick Karlin, who then presents a new study by the state Correctional Association which finds that the efforts to control and treat addictions in prisons is in need of an overhaul. Along with other protocols.
Privatizing public health nursing a hard sell in Sullivan County
Mid Hudson News Network reports that at a meeting in Monticello on March 3, “There was virtually no support for fixing something several Sullivan County seniors say is not broken.” They were talking about public health nursing, or more specifically, the Certified Home Health Agency operated by Sullivan County Public Health Services, which several Republicans have talked about privatizing.
Prison ruling is made binding
The Watertown Daily Times reports that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s 30-day budget amendments, released March 3, include a stipulation taht any ruling of the prison-closure task force would be binding on the commissioner of the state’s prison system. Which means that the prison system HAS TO make $72 million in cuts for the 2011-12 budget year and $112 million after that. With no directives as to how… possibly affecting state facilities in Hudson and Coxsackie. Plus, the law’s been amended so the task force doesn’tconvene until 10 days after the budget is approved, making it impossible for legislators to prevent specific facilities from closure.
Bill to require bicycle registration dies in Albany
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle has a story about how proposed legislation that would require registration fees, and license plates, for bicycles died in Albany on March 3 after being criticized by politicians around the state. Other legislation that would exempt bikes and bike helmets from sales tax and provide a $50 tax credit for adult bike purchases and a $25 credit for kids’ bikes, however, is still under consideration. Assemblyman Michael DenDekker, a Queens Democrat, withdrew the bill after one of his fellow assemblyman called the move “utterly insane.”
New Baltimore gears up for bicentennial opening celebration
Melanie Lekocevic of the Greene County News reports on plans to kick off the Town of New Baltimore’s year-long bicentennial birthday celebration on March 13 with opening ceremonies including a parade and remarks by Congressman Chris Gibson, State Senator James Seward and Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin.
Bookkeeper pleads guilty
Wondering about all the cars outside the Columbia County Courthouse in Hudson yesterday? Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star reports that Pegeen Mulligan-Moore, the former bookkeeper for the towns of Kinderhook and Greenport, pleaded guilty Monday, Feb. 28 to 20 charges related to the theft of more than $350,000 from those municipalities. She is now facing a maximum of 98 years in prison after pleading to the entire indictment without a joint recommendation before Judge Jonathan Nichols.
A private interest in public structures
Rick Karlin of the Times Union reports on a legislative budget hearing on transportation issues held yesterday in Albany where the subject of private funding came up for the state’s infrastructure needs, including repair and replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge, which some joked about getting a new corporate name. Discussions will be continuing over the coming years…
Holcim jobless month to month
Doron Tyler Antrim of the Daily News reports that Holcim plant management met Monday, Feb. 28 with leaders of the local International Brotherhood of Boilermakers union to inform them of the decision to once again extend the layoffs that have kept them out of work since before the recent holidays – now effective until the end of March – in what’s becoming a month-to-month evaluation of the company’s financial health. Robin DeCarlo, Holcim’s vice president of corporate communications, said Monday the company, which makes cement at its Catskill Plant (formerly owned by St. Lawrence Cement) continues to face challenges as the nation’s economic recovery struggles to pick up speed. Half of their workforce, about 60, have been laid off.
Former health commissioner dies
Mid Hudson News Network reports that former State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines, who served up until the end of 2010, died Saturday, Feb. 26 of a heart attack while taking down Christmnas decorations at his Dutchess County farm in the Town of Stanford. Daines was named state health commissioner by Eliot Spitzer in 2007.
Biz owners still reeling after sting operation
The eight Hudson business owners nabbed in an underage drinking sting operation by city police last December had their first day in court yesterday, Feb. 28. Representatives of the Warren Street establishments pointed out that because of price and style, they are NOT beacons for underage drinking. The police noted that they had received a grant for the sting operation.
Cairo man charged with attempted murder
Colin DeVries of the Daily Mail reports on the case of a 21-year old Cairo man arrested while hiding in a Hudson basement from a two county “manhunt” after he traveled to northern Vermont and beat up an ex girlfriend there.
Gas prices on steady rise
The Albany Business Journal notes that a gallon of gas was selling for an average prices of $3.545 in the region as of Monday, Feb. 28, according to figures released by the American Automobile Association. That’s up nearly 17 cents, from $3.377 a gallon a week ago. A month ago, a gallon of gas was $3.328. And a year ago, local residents were paying $2.834 a gallon.
Mid Hudson News Network reports that the body of the pilot whose aircraft crashed into the Hudson River just north of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge on Saturday afternoon, February 26, was recovered by divers late yesterday afternoon, February 27. Thick ice on the river made it difficult for emergency crews to get to the wreckage of the British-built BAC-167 Strikemaster military training jet that nosedived into the river killing the pilot and sole occupant, Michael Faraldi, 38, a doctor with Northern Dutchess Hospital who lived in Germantown. In order to recover the wreckage of the plane, state police said, a special helicopter was brought in to place the wreckage onto a barge where it would be transported to an undisclosed location and examined by the FAA and NTSB. The plane had initially departed from Nashville, TN en route to Columbia County Airport. FAA spokeswoman Holly Baker said the plane’s last stop prior to crashing was at Johnstown, PA airport. The single-engine, two-seater jet plane was built in 1969.
A new report analyzes the possibilities for replacing current fuels with wood, and finds it won't work on a large scale. Image from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies website.
The Watershed Post has a story on a recent report about the forests of the northeast United States and whether they could ever replace fossil fuels as our main source of energy from the Millbrook-based Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, in which the outcome of trees vs. fuels doesn’t look so good for the trees. “Under best-case scenarios, however, the energy generated sustainably from forest biomass in the Northeast could replace only 1.4% of the region’s total fossil fuel energy,” WP quotes the Cary report. “There is a misconception that Northeastern forestland is a vast, untapped resource. This is simply not true. Unrealistic growth in biomass energy facilities could lead to serious degradation of forest resources. While forest biomass is part of the renewable energy toolkit, it is by no means a panacea.” Still, using wood for certain energy purposes, such as heating commercial buildings, might help reduce carbon emissions enough to make it a good strategy, the report says.
NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's own legal counsel may have written the tough no-recount election law interpretation that cost him his long-held supermajority this year.
Celeste Katz of the New York Daily News has a piece about the recent case that saw incumbent Democrat Frank Skartados concede the seat for the 100th Assembly District last week while only 15 votes behind the man he defeated two years ago, Thomas Kirwin. According to Katz, Skartados’ lawyer, who had been Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s adviser, wrote the vague state law that may have cost Silver his powerful and long-held veto-proof Democratic supermajority. Kathleen O’Keefe, while she worked as Silver’s chief election counsel, interpreted state election law NOT to include mandated recounts in close elections, setting the stage for a Brooklyn appeals court to rule unanimously in favor of Kirwan when it tossed out about 60 contested affidavit ballots that many felt would have swung the election back to Skartados. Read the rest of this entry »
Power outage at Windham Mountain ski area
The Times Union reported on the afternoon of February 19 that shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday, the ski area posted on its website that high winds had caused a power outage. Crews were working to restore power and were hoping to do so within 30 to 45 minutes. It was unknown, as of press time, whether anyone had been caught on any ski lifts.
Poughkeepsie cop killer suspect from Catskill
The Daily Mail has a story on how the deceased suspect in a Poughkeepsie shootout that resulted in the death of a city police officer on February 18 has been identified as Lee Welch, 27, of Catskill, who also fatally shot his wife, Jessica Welch, at 1:07 p.m. near the train station, after Welch was found holding the couple’s 3-year-old child and waving around a pistol. The officer pulled the child child from Welch’s arms, handing it to the care of a nearby civilian, before another chase and struggle during which both men shot each other in the head. More on this tragedy following a February 20 press conference on the matter.
Community rallies behind Pulver’s at fundraiser
The Register-Star reports that hundreds came out to support the Hudson glass business whose roof collapsed earlier this month, helping it to get back in business in a matter of weeks.
Feds reject Stockbridge Munsee Tribe’s proposed casino compact
Those dreams of casinos in the Catskills, and Sullivan County in particular, finally got the kibosh on February 18 when the US Department of the Interior said it just wasn’t kosher to be okaying reservation privileges to a Wisconsin tribe in New York.
CSEA: Wisconsin is Ground Zero
The repercussions of Midwestern anti-union actions and current national news hit home Friday, February 18 when union employees held a solidarity demonstration at CSEA headquarters in Albany and provoked a large story in the Times Union by veteran reporter Rick Karlin.
Police kill dog after it attacks baby at sitter’s Saugerties home
The Daily Freeman has a piece about a pit bull that attacked a 3 month old and cable guy at the child’s baby sitter’s home, resulting in reconstructive surgery for the baby and euthanasia for the dog, which allegedly belonged to the baby sitter’s son.
Rough winter leaves mounds of trouble in its wake
The Daily Mail has a piece about how property owners in Coxsackie have been reminded that there are sidewalk clearance laws, and seven have been fined up to $250 for not shoveling. They’re saying it’s time to get the problems of winter cleared up.
Police chase crosses county, state lines
The Register-Star has a thrilling piece by Andrew Amelincks about a morning car chase on February 18 that started in Rensselaer County, wound through CHatham and out Route 295 to Route 22, sidestepped into Massachusetts, and ended on Route 20 in New Lebanon where this morning ended with Gerald Felitti Jr., 40, of Troy, being charged with a number of crimes, including drug possession. The best details? His teenage son was in the truck with him… and the chase included a helicopter.
MidHudsonNews.com reports that the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court Wednesday voted 4-0 to declare Republican Thomas Kirwan the winner in the 100th District State Assembly race. He defeated Democratic incumbent Frank Skartados of Milton, who held the seat for the last two years, by a final tally of under 15 votes, with 58 tossed by the court and dozens more never qualified for counting. The Appellate Court will now ask the Supreme Court justice handling the case to certify the results with the boards of elections since the district is comprised of portions of Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties. The fact of the extra seat for the GOP means it will now be harder for the assembly to override any vetoes by Governor Andrew Cuomo, as is expected on the Property Tax Cap issue, if it ever gets an Assembly vote. “Winning is better than losing,” Kirwan told MidHudsonNews.com.
The Olana Viewshed, as seen on the Rural Intelligence website.
Who’d have thought that a quadricentennial would last three years? According to the Daily Freeman, the Hudson River Valley Greenway and National Heritage Area programs have announced $50,000 has been awarded to a dozen projects around the region under the Hudson River Valley Quadricentennial Implementation Grant Program, set up to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s “discovery” of the river that bears his name, and Robert Fulton’s inauguartion of steamboat travel on it 200 years later, in 2009. A pair of Columbia County projects were awarded money, including $2,500 for the Olana Partnership to hold a symposium to focus on preservation of historic viewsheds and $3,950 for Historic Hudson to host an exhibition allowing viewers to trace the evolution of business and adaptive reuse of architecture on Warren Street in Hudson. Funding also includes $5,000 for SUNY New Paltz’s Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art to produce a catalog documenting an exhibition titled “Made in the Hudson Valley,” which will consist of works from the collections of the Hudson Valley Visual Arts Collections Consortium. Friends of Senate House, which is based in Kingston, got a $2,943 grant to hold an event called “Sustainable Living, 17th and 18th Century Hudson Valley Style.” Highland Landing Park Association Inc., was awarded $3,550 for a water storage and delivery system, including a water storage tank, pump, pressure tank, and necessary piping. In Northern Dutchess, Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum was awarded $5,000 to create an experiential interactive display which will focus on the collection’s most significant airplanes. And the town of Hyde Park got a $4,500 grant to construct two kiosks with “interpretive panels” along the northern section of the Hyde Park Heritage Greenway Trail.
Sales tax income has become a key component for county budgeting.
How does one shift from governmental revenues based on income and property taxes to one where monies are added onto the cost of the things we buy, especially those not normally considered necessities? This question, and some local answers vis a vis local counties’ fundraising through rising sales taxes, is the focus of a story by Patricia Doxsey of the Daily Freeman who has found that, “County lawmakers reluctant to increase property taxes to meet the financial needs of government long have turned to sales taxes as an easy source of revenue.” The piece notes that with rare exception, counties now charge sales tax rates in excess of the state-imposed 3 percent limit for counties. Ulster, Greene and Columbia counties levy a 4 percent county sales tax, while Dutchess County imposes a 3.75 percent sales tax. In addition to the county sales tax levies, the state also takes another four percent. Read the rest of this entry »
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a series of grants to keep local homeless assistance programs operating, although last year HUD gave our area substantially less funding. The Mid-Hudson News Network reports 16 programs have received $1.2 million in Dutchess County. In Orange County, 14 programs received $1.9 million. In Westchester County, 42 programs received $11.3 million. In Ulster County, nine programs received $1 million. Columbia and Greene counties together had only four programs that received a total of $110,000. Read the rest of this entry »
Congressman Chris Gibson has been named to the House Republican Policy Committee, it was announced yesterday, January 27. The Times Union reports that Gibson, who will be at Columbia-Greene Community College at 11:45 a.m. with Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, is considered one of the leading experts on military and veterans issues among the large GOP freshman class. The first-term Republican from Kinderhook in Columbia County has been saying that he hopes to use his military background to benefit the committee. Gibson has also said he hopes to influence House Republican policy on the key issues he campaigned on, including jobs, the economy and an aggressive strategy for energy independence… including reintroducing the idea of nuclear power into the Hudson Valley, probably in Greene County. “I was honored to accept this appointment to the House Republican Policy Committee under the leadership of Chairman Price, and am looking forward to the opportunity to expand the number of issues on which I can have an impact,” the Times Union quotes Gibson saying. The congressman also serves on the House Agriculture and Armed Services Committees.
From The Daily Freeman: After all the talk of toned down rhetoric and a new bipartisanship in our government, it seems things are snapping back to control politics quicker than you can say “gerrymandering.” The Daily Freeman reports this morning that the Republicans who control the Dutchess County Legislature have chosen that they will redraw the county legislative district lines instead of a previously chosen citizens committee, as is being suggested for the state legislature. Republican legislators on Monday managed to muster the votes needed to override Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus’ veto of a GOP-backed measure putting the redistricting process back into the hands of county lawmakers. The measure passed, 17-8, after Legislature Chairman Robert Rolison, R-city of Poughkeepsie, and Minority Whip Angela Flesland, R-town of Poughkeepsie, switched their votes. Read the rest of this entry »
In its first two months of operation, a prescription drug discount program has saved Greene County residents more than $18,000, according to the county in a local sidelight story commenting on the current healthcare hullabaloo down in the U.S. Congress. The Daily Freeman‘s Ariel Zangla-Girard reports January 20 that the Greene County Prescription Drug Discount Card, offered to county residents through a partnership with ProAct Inc., has saved locals $18,243.61 since it was introduced last November, according to information provided by the county. The county said 384 cards were used in November and December for an average savings of $27.81. “Obviously, there’s tremendous benefits to those without insurance and those who need medicine not covered by their insurance,” county Legislature Chairman Wayne Speenburgh, R-Cosxackie, said while adding that he would like to see more county residents take advantage of the free discount card. ProAct, at its own expense, mailed more than 24,000 prescription drug discount cards to county residents beginning the week of Nov. 8. While the program was advertised as being of most benefit to people lacking prescription drug insurance and seniors paying out of pocket for the Medicare Part D coverage gap, all county residents are eligible to participate, regardless of age or income. The discount card also can be used for pet medications. Read the rest of this entry »
Farm fencing may be the latest local zoning battleground.
Down in the neighboring Dutchess County town of Red Hook, a new review of fence regulations to determine whether amendments are needed to exempt farm use of fencing intended to keep cattle contained and crops safe, augers the sort of zoning and planning changes expected throughout the area as land use changes from an agricultural to a second home and bedroom community demographic. The Daily Freeman has a story this week on a request for such review by increasingly upscale Red Hook’s Agriculture and Open Space Committee, which has recommended that recently enacted permit and fee requirements be taken out of zoning laws.
“About eight or 10 years ago the Town Board amended our zoning to address the question of fencing,” the resolutioon read. “This was based upon concerns of the public associated with building of walled fences (which) would obstruct the views. … So the feeling was the matter of fences should be subject to someone taking a look at them and seeing that they were consistent with the requirements of our zoning law.”
“If I have to come down here every time I want to move an electric fence, I am leaving,” one farmer is quoted saying in the story. “I can’t even believe there would be a permit to put up an electric fence. … It’s a single strand of wire we move around.”
Town Code Enforcement Officer Steve Cole said state law could be used to determine the type of barriers used for farms. “This goes back to the 1800s when you had rock walls and they were not being cared for,” he said. “There is a whole series of statutes on fences.”
The last remaining state legislaive post still awaiting a final decision following last November’s election tallies seems to be a battleground of spin and press releases, for the time being. This week, Mid Hudson News Network ran a story about former holder of the seat Thomas Kirwin, a Republican, being ahead of incumbent Democrat Frank Skartados be between 12 and 14 votes, with local Republican party officials saying there were only three outstanding ballots to be ruled on by a State Supreme Court justice. Local Democrats, meanwhile, are pointing out that there But, Skartados told MidHudsonNews.com that he will not concede and that there are between 46 and 70 unopened absentee ballots that they want opened and counted in the 100th District Assembly race. Orange County Republican Chairman William DeProspo is calling on the judge to certify the election and allow a representative for the district. Ulster County GOP Chairwoman Robin Yess had the same sentiments – resolve the race once and for all and get a duly elected representative in Albany. Kirwan, who held that seat before Skartados beat him two years ago, is meanwhile saying he feels frustrated. “It looks like the fat lady has left the building and I think the orchestra has too,” he said. “I think the only people still left are my opponent, our lawyers and me.” Skartados, meanwhile, is simply saying all votes should be counted.
Durham School Services provides bus transportation for 300 school districts nationwide, and is increasingly facing union frustration with their budget cuts.
It may not involve the news directly in our listening area, but a story in today’s January 11 Daily Freeman about bus drivers still working despite their union‘s strike vote has local interest because of the ways in which it invokes shifts in Labor’s power after a half century of effort against the previous half century’s gains for employees, as well as what’s at stake in the year to come as folks try cutting away at education expenses wherever they can.
“Employees in the union representing 175 Durham School Services bus drivers and monitors are continuing to work despite a strike vote before students went on Christmas break, as negotiations have moved forward since the vote,” the piece by Kyle Wind reads.
“Progress continues to be made, but more is still to be accomplished,” said company spokesman Carina Noble in a prepared statement. “We have set the next meeting date as Jan. 25 and are optimistic that we will be able to reach an agreement for our drivers and monitors. In the meantime, we have commitments from union leadership of no work action prior to our next bargaining session.”
Following those negotiations, Adrian Huff, the secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 445, said he will meet with membership and “follow their lead.” Huff has said the vote to strike was nearly unanimous. He said the 175 workers unionized last year and are 18 negotiating sessions into creating a first contract with management.
Durham, a subsidiary of National Express Corp. of Great Britain, handles all busing for the Rhinebeck school district and three routes for special education services for the Rondout Valley school district. Thus far, transportation has not been disrupted. It is the nation’s second largest school bus operating company.
The current threat of union action is the first in the area of transportation to affect a local school district, many of which are now eying cuts to teaching and other staff, as well as programs and even schools, to meet what is anticipated to be a shrinking of our educational opportunities tied to tax reforms being called for by older voters sick of covering for others’ kids, as some have started to say. Read the rest of this entry »
Consolidation is coming our way, with neighboring Northern Dutchess towns now joining a wave that’s also included Greene County’s southern neighbor, Ulster County, and resulted in a well-attended conference on the subject last month. A story by Jim Gordon in HV Biz this week addressed a Dec. 15 public forum hosted by the Northern Dutchess Alliance titled, “Shared Services Across Northern Dutchess Towns,” and how it worked with the alliance’s stated goal to “create a broad-based and inclusive institutional structure for regional cooperation and economic development,” using a public process to build support for ideas.
The forum included a discussion on case studies of successful consolidations of services, particularly in Ulster County. A follow-up report on possible areas for consolidation is expected early next year. Saugerties town Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel spoke about the consolidation of the town and village police forces – a laborious but successful effort that won approval from both town and village voters and members of both departments, which saw no layoffs.
“One element is not to rush things,” said Lucy Hayden, president of the alliance. “That consolidation of jobs was done over such a long time no one actually lost their position. That was a useful bit of insight.”
A staff report in The Columbia Paper says the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Columbia, Greene, Dutchess, and Rensselaer counties in the state as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by a drought that began June 13, 2010 and continues. Columbia is also among 19 counties around the state designated by the USDA last week as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by frost, freezing, high winds, hail, excessive snow, excessive rain and cold temperatures that occurred from February 15 to May 12, 2010. “President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to a wide variety of crops including fruit and vegetable crops, and we want to help,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a December 20 press release announcing the drought declaration, as reported in The Columbia Paper. “This action will provide help to farmers who suffered significant production losses,” said the secretary. He visited the region earlier this year during the campaign season at the request of Congressman Scott Murphy. All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas December 17, 2010, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Local farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov. The Department of Enviromental Conservation says current drought conditions are normal.
Jim Gordon at HV Biz has a great piece on the web journal currently about how the control of road salt applications by highway crews can save tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars each year and reduce damage to groundwater supplies and surface water, at least according to a report by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies released Dec. 16.
The report lists 10 ways to effectively control snow and ice on roads while minimizing salt usage, including calibrating equipment, regulating applicators and retrofitting trucks with air and road temperature sensors. Among other practices, they advocate using real-time data available online to determine whether salt should be used.
Salt spread on roads increases the salinity of drinking water and quickly degrades aquatic environments. The salt has a “legacy effect” because it takes decades to flush from a watershed. The problem is growing because road salt use has spiked in recent decades. Read the rest of this entry »
According to Kathy Kahn of HV Biz, the Hudson Valley is experiencing a marked increase in college applications for all its educational institutions, and the region’s student population is an interesting mix of high school graduates already determined to be college bound, transfer students from other states, adults who want to improve their career opportunities, and adults who want to create a better resume while they search for a new job. Others are students who had chosen career over college and found jobs sorely lacking, both for the newbies and the experienced workers. The growth, Kahn notes, has helped the economy because most, if not all, of the Hudson Valley region’s schools are upgrading. From millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements at Vassar in Poughkeepsie and SUNY Orange in Middletown, to Dutchess Community College’s building of 450 units of student housing in Poughkeepsie aand The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park plans to put up a Hyatt hotel on the north end of its campus. NY Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s report on the economic impact of higher education in the state, prepared in September, reported state higher education institutions employed more than 266,000 people in 2009. The state had the largest private higher education sector in the nation, with 167,450 jobs, more than 40 percent more than second-ranked California. In surveys prepared by the Association of University Technology Managers, New York consistently ranked among the top three states nationwide in leveraging technology to create economic growth.
Frank Skartados, incumbent Democratic Assemblyman for the 100th District.
Think November’s completely in the past, now? Think again… A Mid Hudson News Network story on Tuesday noted that the race for the state Assembly’s 100th district, in Dutchess and other mid-Hudson counties, is still undecided and awaiting some heavy legal maneuvers to play themselves out. Republican Thomas Kirwan remains ahead of Democratic State Assemblyman Frank Skartados by between 25 and 30 ballots, but there are still 46 cast aside and 23 unopened ballots that need to be reckoned with. Attorneys for both sides will return to State Supreme Court Justice Victor Alfieri later this week for permission to count those remaining ballots. Kirwan was the assemblyman in the 100th District until two years ago when Skartados defeated him in a district that includes portions of Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties. The fate of the seat won’t effect larger state politics, but it could have repercussions in terms of local issues, from what money comes back into the district for what, to the coattails that determine county and town races this coming November.
The Register-Star has a story today on moves by Hudson Democratic Chairman Victor Mendolia to file a complaint against Columbia County Fire Commissioner James Van Deusen. with the Columbia County Board of Ethics, if he can find a county employee or elected official to do it. The idea, as outlined in the story from John Mason, seems to be to augment a similar complaint against New York State Sen. Stephen Saland, R,C,I-Poughkeepsie, on charges that the legislator “used his position to pressure local fire companies into publicizing their support for him in his recent run for re-election,” which was filed with the state Legislative Ethics Commission by Mendolia and Hillside Firefighter Lloyd Hamilton.
Mendolia and Hamilton had learned of Saland’s request that fire companies in Dutchess and Columbia counties place expressions of thanks to him on the signs outside their fire stations prior to Election Day. Hamilton learned of it when he saw his fire company’s sign bore the words, “Firefighters for Saland.” Mendolia learned of it when he was given a letter from Van Deusen to various Columbia County fire chiefs.
Van Deusen is also a Republican councilman for the Town of Claverack. Mendolia also volunteers as a recorder of meetings for WGXC, for whom he will also be hosting a regular weekly program. For the full story, which hits pretty heavily on the sometimes not-so-subtle conflicts of interest in our local politics throughout the region, click here.
Snow, snow, and more snow… that was the gist of the headline patter in today’s newspapers, charting declared states of emergency in all our local counties and the City of Hudson. The Register Star reports on how Columbia County was pelted with between 17 inches and 2 feet of snow from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning, with 35-to-40 mph winds making it seem like more. Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chairman Roy Brown declared a state of emergency from 4 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. Monday. Non-essential vehicles were requested to stay off the roadways, and non-essential county offices were closed for the day. In Greene County, the Daily Mail reported nearly a foot and a half of snow falling in some places, though most high accumulations being around 12 inches in depth. The county was under a winter weather advisory until 7 a.m. today, according to the National Weather Service in Albany, and parking was restricted on all roads and streets throughout the county. The advisory cautions strong winds of 15 to 25 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 miles per hour could cause blowing and drifting snow, making driving conditions hazardous. Parts of Dutchess County had it worst, although throughout the region only a few thousand homes suffered electrical blackouts of any length. Some of the highest snowfalls in the region were recorded with West Hillsdale in the lead at 2 feet, followed by Ghent, 22 inches; Kinderhook, 21 inches; North Chatham, 20.3 inches; Claverack, 20 inches; Taghkanic, 19 inches, Livingston, 17 inches, 17 inches in Maplecrest, 15 inches in East Jewett and 13.5 inches in Ashland and Athens. Eleven inches in Greenville and Freehold, and seven inches in Durham. Pine Plains, in Dutchess County, registered 25 inches of snow. In Hudson, Mayor Rick Scalera declared a snow emergency Monday morning in response to the blizzard that struck the city Sunday and Monday. As of 8 p.m. Monday, all vehicles were required to be parked on the even side of the street on streets that have odd/even alternate side of the street regulations. As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, all vehicles were to bebe moved to the odd side of the street. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, the snow emergency will be terminated, unless conditions call for an extension, Scalera said.
The National Weather Service was predicting a “nice stretch of three or four days,” starting today, with temperatures getting up around 32 degrees, winds dropping to 10 to 20 miles per hour from Monday’s 35 to 40, and sunshine replacing precipitation until the weekend.
Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, says he'll sleep in his office once in Washington, as if his new job were a military deployment.
U.S. Rep.-elect Chris Gibson plans to make his congressional office his home when in Washington D.C., eschewing paying rent on an apartment or house… and going along with his aides’ description of his upcoming first term in office as being like the deployments he’s faced as part of a 24-year military career. A Journal Register News Service story in today’s Daily Freeman describes the continuing military jargon Gibson is using as he takes office next week after having defeated one-term Kirstin Gilllibrand fill-in Chris Murphy, who he bested by touting his military background and riding the national wave of anti-government rhetoric of the past year with a large amount of financial support from forces outside the state.
“He’s going to look at it as a deployment,” Dan Odescalchi, a spokesman for the Kinderhook Republican, joked about Gibson’s accommodations.
Beneath the joking, however, is some truth. Gibson invoked his military experience often on the path to winning his first elected office in November and portrayed himself, like many other successful Republicans across the nation, as a man on a mission to bring fiscal conservatism to Capitol Hill.
“He’s a guy who is going to Washington with his eyes wide open and who believes in his stump speech, which is less government is better government, less taxes are better than higher taxes,” Rensselaer County GOP Chairman Neil Kelleher said. “He believes it, and I think he’s going to do everything he can to make it happen, too.”
WGXC is a community-run media project, re-envisioning radio as an innovative platform for local participation. Our inclusive programming connects diverse voices, and distributes information across the public spectrum in New York’s Greene and Columbia counties.
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Hosts of the WGXC Morning Show and WGXC Afternoon Show should use the tools on this page to find information, sounds, music, local recordings, event listings, and more to host a WGXC Morning Show or WGXC Afternoon Show. Follow these links, and the others below, to help produce the program.
WGXC ARCHIVES WGXC EVENTS CALENDAR WGXC SCHEDULE
On The Air
WGXC is on 90.7-FM now, at full-power, 3300 watts. We cover all parts of Greene County except parts of the mountaintop, and all of Columbia County except for a bit of Western Columbia County south of Germantown. WGXC also covers a large part of southern Albany County. We have heard reports that the signal is getting from Delaware County to Great Barrington, from Selkirk to Saugerties, from Pine Plains to the I-90 extension.
WGXC Town Reporters
These folks currently occasionally post to the WGXC Newsroom.
Phillip Grant
Cheryl K. Symister-Masterson
Noah Reibel
Tom Roe
Sam Sebren
Paul Smart
WGXC Correspondents These folks occasionally post reports to WGXC from far and wide.
Kelly Benjamin
WGXC Town Recorders
The following folks have recorded town meetings and other events that aired on WGXC. You could too! Email info@wgxc.org.
Tanya Blue
Ann Forbes Cooper
Dharma Dailey
Crane Davis
Tony Fallon
Joan Geitz
Christina Malisoff
Victor Mendolia
Fawn Potash
Kieran Rielly
Martin Roby
Richard Roth
Nancy Rothman
Melissa Sarris
Sam Sebren
Alan Skerrett
Ellen Thurston
Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page
When the computer is turned on, the Hawthorne Valley Farm Weather Page reports weather information in Harlemville. Check dates and times to see whether reports are live or from when the computer was turned off.
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