Today's daily news update.

Chris Bragg is reporting for Capitol Confidential Eleanor's Legacy, an organization dedicated to electing pro-choice female candidates in New York, announced August 11, its endorsements in nine state Senate races. The endorsements are part of the “Baker Project,” named for important former members of the group. “Since we launched the Baker Project in 2018 we have seen women lead the state forward to pass vital legislation like the Reproductive Health Act and the Women’s Equality Act,” said Eleanor’s Legacy president Brette McSweeney in a statement. “...With the Baker Project 2020, Eleanor’s Legacy will invest in nine Democratic women running in flippable red-to-blue Senate seats, including four open seats.” The endorsements include Poughkeepsie business owner Karen Smythe, who is challenging GOP state Sen. Sue Serino in the 41st Senate District; and, Michelle Hinchey, who is running for the 46th Senate District seat held by retiring Republican George Amedore. She is the daughter of the late U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey. Eleanor’s Legacy is named after former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.

FilmColumbia has been named to MovieMaker Magazine‘s annual list of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World, according to an August 11 press release. The list was compiled by MovieMaker panelists who "scanned the globe looking for events with forward-thinking programming, unique locations, and well-executed events." The 20-year-old festival "blends a gorgeous location, local color (both people and leaves) and Oscar-calibre films, lovingly programmed by a revered team with exquisite taste,” said Tim Molloy, editor-in-chief of MovieMaker. The panel acknowledge the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on small festivals, noting "...making sacrifices for the greater good is the epitome of cool. We hope this list helps these festivals stay on people’s minds and in their hearts, and that their audiences will be more eager than ever to return, when it’s safe.” FilmColumbia 2020 was canceled in July. The Berkshire International Film Festival in Great Barrington, Mass. and the Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, also made the list.

MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting the letter from several Democratic members of the Kingston Common Council, asking the state Attorney General’s Office to look into the activities of Mayor Steven Noble and his wife, Julie, a city employee, is still pending. There has been no response from the AG’s office other than to acknowledge its receipt, Council Majority Leader Reynolds Scott-Childress said. The council members came together to lodge the request with the attorney general have declined to make their concerns public, but Scott-Childress was willing to offer some details this week. “There is clearly the context of his attempts to create a new department and then appoint his wife to be the head of it at a $22,000 increase in salary. That creates a context where it can color other elements of his administration,” he said. Council President Andrea Shaut, who also signed the letter to the attorney general, failed to respond to numerous requests to speak with MidHudson News. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news.

The vote and/or unanimous decision rendered by the Catskill Village Board recently on the question of a Black Lives Matter mural did not occur at a validly held open meeting, according to the state Committee on Open Government. In an August 4 email in response to a request from WGXC-FM, the committee opined that taking action on a matter of public concern at a time or in a way outside of a valid public meeting is "inconsistent with the law... [I]f a series of email communications among members of a village board involves action taken by the board, we would agree that a meeting would effectively have been held in contravention of the Open Meetings Law." In a June 30 statement posted on the Village of Catskill Facebook page, the board announced it was rejecting a community request to paint a Black Lives Matter mural on Main Street in the village. According to the statement, "After careful and thoughtful deliberation, our Board of Trustees has decided that the proposed mural on our Main Street should take the form of a banner." The post went on to enumerate multiple reasons for the decision and closed with, "Thank you, Vincent Seeley and the Village of Catskill Board of Trustees. Joe Kozloski – Natasha Law – Pete Grasse – Greg Smith." However, there is no record of a vote having been taken and accounts of what occurred are contradictory. Shoshanah Bewlay, the Executive Director of the Committee on Open Government, spoke to WGXC about the issue. PLAY EXCERPT HERE. Seeley originally said there was a vote, the matter was discussed at length and the decision was unanimous. Law denied there was ever an actual vote saying the decision was more of a recommendation. Asked to comment about the Committee for Open Government's feedback this week, Seeley offered a different story in an August 10 email. "We did not take a vote over email. Why is this so confusing? We made a recommendation for the banner. Stop trying to make this something it is not. For this type of action, there did not need to be a vote...," he wrote. Asked to confirm that there was no discussion amongst the trustees about the request either individually, or as a group during the last week of June, Seeley did not answer. Adding to the confusion, there is no official record to rely upon. Board meeting minutes have not been published at Village of Catskill [dot] net since late March. Asked if the village plans to publish the missing minutes or to make the meeting recordings available to the public sometime soon, Seeley was likewise mum.


More information about this report, for informational purposes:

Shoshanah Bewlay, the Executive Director of the Committee on Open Government, spoke to WGXC about the issue. Click here to listen to the full interview:
https://data.wavefarm.org/20200812001918/ShoshanahBewlay_NYCommOpenGovt_BerneCatskilletc_20200811_20200831.mp3

Here is the New York State Committee on Open Government full opinion on the matter:
Based on the information you have provided, it does not appear that the vote/unanimous decision of the Village Board of Trustees occurred at a validly-held open meeting. If members of the village board discussed and took action on a matter of public concern by email, that would be in violation of several of the provisions of the Open Meetings Law. Please see this previously-prepared advisory opinion addressing this question, in which Committee staff advised: “there are only two ways in which a public body may validly conduct a meeting: by means of a physical gathering or a gathering by means of video-conference. Any other means of conducting a meeting, i.e., by telephone conference, by mail, or by e-mail, would be inconsistent with law. . . [I]f a series of email communications among members of a village board involves action taken by the board, we would agree that a meeting would effectively have been held in contravention of the Open Meetings Law.”

Here is WGXC's original query to New York State's Committee on Open Government:
Hello,
Community radio station WGXC (wgxc.org) would like an advisory opinion on the following matter. On June 30 the Village of Catskill released what Village President Vincent Seeley repeatedly called a vote, and has now said was a decision, on whether or not to place a "Black Lives Matter" mural on Main Street in the village. He said the vote was unanimous among the Village Trustees. The board also released a long statement, with many bullet points, on the issue. The board last met June 24, without a decision on the matter. The board did not meet again until July. Seeley said the vote, and the text, were taken and crafted via email. The question we have is if this is allowed out of a public meeting, under Gov. Cuomo's March 7 executive order about town meetings.

Hudson Common Council President Tom DePietro was asked about the issue. Click here to hear his response:
https://data.wavefarm.org/20200812001900/TomDepietro_HudsonCommonCouncilPresident_onCatskillVillageDecision_EVERGREEN.mp3

Joe Sexton and Joaquin Sapien report at ProPublica that Columbia County officials say a nursing home in Valatie sent 18 residents with coronavirus to die at hospitals to cover up their own mortality statistics. Officials from the Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at Barnwell deny the allegations. A nurse with the Columbia County Health Department first noticed the 18 deaths over five weeks, mostly in May. The deaths mostly occurred at the Albany Medical Center and Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson. “For me,” said Jack Mabb, the Columbia County Health Director, “it appeared they were sending people to the hospital so they wouldn’t die in the facility.” Mabb said New York's change in the tabulation of nursing home deaths this spring could have incentivized the behavior. Currently, many Republicans and Democrats in Albany are calling for an independent investigation of what happened with nursing homes and coronavirus patients this spring, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's policies around nursing homes. More than 6,500 nursing home residents died from COVID-19 this year, about six percent of the state’s nursing home population. “There are very few legitimate reasons for a nursing home to send seriously ill residents with do-not-resuscitate orders to a hospital unless there is a real chance that their conditions could be improved,” Mabb said. “We flagged it for the state. We told the Department of Health we thought something big was going on.” In May, Kinderhook Town Supervisor Patsy Leader asked the state to investigate Barnwell sending dying residents to hospitals. Bruce Gendron, a vice president of the company that operates the Barnwell nursing home and 15 others, said that residents only would have been sent if they needed care that the home could not provide. Mabb said he had only received two death notifications from the Barnwell home, while the state Health Department reports online that 12 people died at the Valatie facility. Mabb says he counts 18 deaths of Barnwell residents at hospitals, and that he does not trust information coming from either the state or officials with Barnwell. Read more about this story at ProPublica.

The Riverkeeper environmental group reported on Aug. 11 that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation denied both the Air State Facility and Solid Waste Management permit applications submitted by Rensselaer Resource Recovery LLC, a subsidiary of BioHiTech Global. The company wanted to put a waste-processing facility on a capped toxic waste site next to the Hudson River in the city Rensselaer in Rensselaer County. The plant, on the site of a former BASF chemical plant, would have taken in municipal waste, extracted all recyclable materials, and then trucked the solid recovered fuel to cement plants and incinerated as a replacement for coal or other fuels. Local environmental activists speculated that the LafargeHolcim plant in Ravena would have been a facility burning the fuel, but the Albany County Legislature voted Aug. 10 for a clean air law that would not allow this sort of burning. “DEC got this one right, and Riverkeeper appreciates the time and care that they put into reviewing the applications and for their well thought out reasons for denying these permits,” Paul Gallay, Riverkeeper President, said.

Brittany Bowker reports in the Boston Globe that while New York's latest COVID-19 numbers remain low, across the border in Massachusetts, coronavirus is spreading. Governor Charlie Baker announced, as of Aug. 11, new restrictions to slow the spread. Now face masks are required, under the threat of a fine, for any gathering of more than 10 over the age of two, in any public or private space. Alcoholic beverages can only be served at restaurants if sold with food prepared on-site. That means pretzels, or chips, don't count. Violations of the new regulations could mean violators are fined up to $500 per violation, or restaurants could receive a cease and desist order. Officials in Massachusetts reported Aug. 11 that the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive is up slightly to 1.9 percent, with 296 new cases and 10 new deaths. Read more about this story in the Boston Globe.

Today's daily news update.

Rachel Silberstein is reporting for the Times Union state Board of Regents Chancellor A. Betty Rosa August 11, announced her resignation during a brief board meeting. Rosa is leaving the seat she has held since 2008, to take on the job of interim education commissioner before current commissioner Shannon Tahoe steps down. Rosa said it was a "painful" decision but believes it was the right one to "ensure the stability that we need for our students during this unprecedented time.” Rose said, “Districts and schools are about to begin an instructional year like no other in our history. It is imperative that the Department continues its important work without interruption, and I am dedicated to providing that constancy as Interim Commissioner. ...” Rosa was elected chancellor by the full board in March 2016 and re-elected for a second term in 2019. She was first elected to the Board of Regents for a five-year term in 2008, as the Regent for Bronx County, or the the Twelfth Judicial District, then re-elected in 2013 and again in 2018. Board of Regents Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown will assume the duties of chancellor. Read the full story in the Times Union.

William J. Kemble is reporting for the Daily Freeman a growing group of SUNY New Paltz alumni are calling for President Donald Christian to resign over unresolved racist incidents that have left students feeling that insults, threats and ongoing tension are not taken seriously. The concerns are being raised in advance of an online session to address racism August 11, between campus administrators, students and graduates. On July 31, SUNY New Paltz Alumni for BLM members spoke with SUNY state Associate Provost for Student Affairs and University Life John Graham and presented five demands for administrative changes. “We were asked to present our demands in the form of phases and wait for the SUNY chancellor to be selector to begin discussion on possible implementation,” said the group's spokesman Jonathan Espinosa. Espinosa said alumni consider Christian to be a part of the problem. “He’s had nine years to figure it out as the president of a SUNY institution,” he said. “We give him an F on this issue of diversity. Black enrollment has not increased substantially at New Paltz.” Officials at the university declined to address the specific demands or the comments suggesting that Christian should step down. Instead they issued a statement noting an ongoing series of events intended to address issues of racism. “The college is holding the third in a series of town hall listening sessions this summer with the campus community titled ‘Dismantling Racism,’” they wrote. Alumni released a petition with their demands and included statements from current and former students describing hundreds of incidents over the years, including reports of constant insults from some students to threats that ranged from subtle to overt. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Brendan J. Lyons is reporting for the Times Union passengers over the age of 16 traveling in the backseat of a vehicle must wear a seatbelt as of November 1. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the legislation into law on August 11. Under the existing law, passengers over the age of 16 riding in the front seat of a vehicle must wear a belt. Those under the age of 16 are already required to be belted in no matter where they are seated. "We've known for decades that seat belts save lives and with this measure, we are further strengthening our laws and helping to prevent needless tragedies," Cuomo said. New York was the first state to pass a mandatory seat belt law in 1984. The governor's office, citing state Department of Motor Vehicles data, said approximately 16 percent of passengers wore seat belts that year and by 2008 the compliance rate was 89 percent. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Today's daily news.

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Patricia R. Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman Rhinebeck's Foster's Coach House Tavern has taken down racist depictions of black people from its walls, hours after the author and podcaster Touré tweeted a photo of what he called "an insanely racist" carved wood wall hanging to his 216,000 Twitter followers. The restaurant has been a village mainstay for more than a century. On its Facebook page and in a statement to the Freeman, Foster's wrote: "Certain artwork has made our patrons uncomfortable and in order to be sensitive to our customers and community we have chosen to remove the artwork. Foster’s has been on the record in its support of peaceful assembly voicing civil rights and equality. We look forward to continuing our service to the community which we have done for over 130 years," the statement continued. The wood carving that was removed is a depiction of an 1892 illustration by Thomas Worth titled "Speeding On The Darktown Track" created for the Darktown comic series by Courier and Ives. In a series of tweets August 9, Touré posted a photo of the wall hanging, which he described as "a black man with huge lips and bugged out eyes, being dragged by a horse and plow." He then detailed his encounter with employees and a manager of the eatery about the piece. Touré said he noticed the carving when he went into the restaurant to pick up an order. "I said the food here is fine, but why is this insanely racist statue on the wall in the dining room? Is that what y'all are about?" he posted. Touré said the manager denied the wall hanging was racist, and she defended it as art and history. Foster's Coach House Tavern first opened in 1890 as the Village Tavern. It has been owned since 2017 by Neil and Elijah Bender, who continue to operate it. Neil Bender is a developer who owns several buildings in Uptown Kingston. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

The Albany County Legislature passed Local Law B, prohibiting waste burning in Albany County, on Aug. 10. Legislator Dustin Reidy reported on his Twitter feed that the vote was 32-7. The clean air law bans new waste facilities from establishing in Albany County. It also stops LafargeHolcim in Ravena from burning tires and trash, and Norlite in Cohoes, from burning any more toxic firefighting foam.

Kate Lisa is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media eight families have filed a federal class-action suit against the state Health Department and various public school districts to challenge regulations that allow school officials to override immunization exemptions for students with underlying conditions. The lawsuit includes the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District. Attorneys Sujata Gibson, Michael Sussman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mary Holland filed the case in federal court late last month representing the families living in locations across the state in their battles to allow their children to return to school after district administrators overruled valid medical exemptions signed by the students’ physicians, freeing them from certain required vaccines. Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit anti-vaccination activist group founded by Kennedy, hosted a digital Zoom press conference at 10 a.m. August 6, with the legal team, a licensed physician and two parents with immune-compromised children involved in the litigation. The families named as defendants the state Health Department and Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, Coxsackie-Athens School District, the Albany City School District, the Shenendehowa School District, the Penfield School District, the Lansing School District, the Ithaca City School District, the South Huntington School, and the Three Village School District. The superintendent of each district was named individually, as well. The state Health Department would not comment, citing pending litigation. Randall Squier, Coxsackie-Athens superintendent of schools, did not return multiple calls for comment. In June 2019, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed new legislation into law, amending Public Health Law § [Section] 2164, which no longer allows children from attending day care, preK or public, private and parochial school for non-medical vaccine exemption. In taking legal action, the attorneys with Children’s Health Defense, are asking the court to find the state policy unconstitutional and allow the children to return to school. Read the full story in The Ravena News-Herald.

Elizabeth Doran is reporting for Syracuse [dot] com 107 New York school districts have not filed the required school reopening plans with the State Education Department and the State Health Department, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said August 10. The plans outline how a school district plans to reopen and were due July 31. According to the governor's office the Catskill, Windham-Ashland-Jewett, Germantown and Ichabod Crane school districts did not submit their plans on time. If the missing plans are not filed by Fri., Aug. 14, those districts cannot reopen, Cuomo said. School districts must conduct at least three public sessions with parents, and one exclusively for teachers, to talk about the plans and answer questions. The state of New York has 749 school districts. “Despite clear guidance provided to these schools, which included a link to the DOH portal, some districts in follow-up calls said they filed with the State Education Department, which is not an executive agency, but didn’t file with DOH,‘‘ said Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to the governor. According to messages posted on their websites, that was the case with the Catskill and Ichabod Crane districts. In Catskill's case, the district corrected its mistake by filing the required paperwork with the DOH on Mon., Aug. 10. But Cuomo's school list is also suspect. The River Newsroom reports that one school on the list, “Jeff Youngsville,” which may be a reference to the Jefferson-Youngsville Central School District, merged with the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley districts in 1999 to create Sullivan West. Read the full story at Syracuse [dot] com.

Alex Greenberger reports for Art News that David Cort, one of the founders of the Videofreex collective that started what may have been America's first pirate television station in Greene County, died recently. He was 85. “David shared his laughter with the world and his twin daughters are the inheritors of his spirit,” Videofreex said in a statement. “And those of us who knew him laughed and cried with him too. May we all go rollicking on as he would … and resisting in the face of an imminent thrashing, as he did.” The Videofreex began at the Woodstock music festival in 1969, shooting video footage of the event. That led them to a contract for a television show about the counterculture on CBS, and writing a chapter about pirate television in Abbie Hoffman's "Steal This Book." CBS canceled the TV series before it aired, and they took the money and video equipment from those projects and relocated to the video collective to Lanesville (in the Town of Hunter, near the Ulster County border) in Greene County in the early 1970s. There, they started "Lanesville TV," what they claim is the first pirate television station. The group included Parry Teasdale, now the editor of The Columbia Paper, and formerly of The Independent. In 2015 the the Videofreex were featured in "The Art of Guerrilla Television" art show at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. Read more about this story in Art News.