Click above to download or play today's "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news for Fri., Dec. 6. Produced by Philip Grant.

Sarah Trafton reports for Columbia-Greene Media that on Dec. 4 Greene County legislators voted to eliminate the residency requirement for the sheriff’s office. While jobs were pitched among reasons to build a new jail in Coxsackie, the construction contracts were awarded out of the county, and now the sheriff will be allowed to hire officers at the jail from outside Greene County. There will be a public hearing on the local law at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at the legislature's Catskill meeting hall. Currently the Public Officers Law requires that uniformed officers of the sheriff’s department and uniformed personnel of the county jail be residents of Greene County. Currently, Greene County has 17 correction officers. Greene County is building an 80-cell, 64-bed facility in Coxsackie, divided into three parts: a pod with 16 beds for female inmates; a pod with 32 beds for male inmates; and another pod with 16 beds for male inmates. The county predicts a July 2021 opening. The project is funded by a $39 million bond from Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. at 2.49 percent interest and another $8.1 million of taxpayer money The Greene County budget increases next year from $119 million to $122.35 million with a tax rate increase of 1.7 percent with the Greene County jail the leading reason for the new spending. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Michael Williams reports for the Times Union that Rensselaer Mayor Richard Mooney won't meet with mayor-elect Michael Stammel during the current transition period. In a Dec. 4 press release Stammel, a Republican, said he sent a letter Nov. 14 to Mooney, a Democrat, asking to meet. "There has been no response to this letter," Stammel's statement said. So Mooney responded with his own press release that did not say he was meeting with Stammel. "Chairman Stammel has already met with current city department heads, corporation counsel, and additional staff," but not Mooney. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Rep. Antonio Delgado is eager to talk about anything other than impeachment, and on Dec. 5 was talking on the House floor about stamping out Lyme Disease with a postage stamp. Click here to play or download a short excerpt of Rep. Delgado speaking on the House floor.

Sarah Trafton reports for Columbia-Greene Media that voters in the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District get to hear about the proposed $3.77 million capital project at an informational meeting at 6:30 p.m., Dec. 9 at Edward J. Arthur Elementary School. If approved the state would pay 71 percent of the project and local taxpayers would pay the balance with $175,000 from the capital reserve fund and a $3.6 million borrowed bond at 3 percent interest over 15 years. Taxpayers should expect an increase of nine cents per $1,000 for 15 years. Work on the middle school roof, exterior lighting, and high school tennis courts are included in the project. The vote on the spending is from 1 to 9 p.m. Dec. 17 at Coxsackie Elementary and Edward J. Arthur Elementary. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news update for Thu., Dec. 5. (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman in a vote tally following a court proceeding Wed., Dec. 4, Republican Michael Kavanagh picked up five votes, while Democrat David Clegg gained four, in the still unresolved Ulster County District Attorney's race. Clegg now holds a 44-vote lead. The nine votes were counted after State Supreme Court Justice Richard McNally directed the candidates' representatives to reconsider their challenges to 283 absentee and affidavit ballots that were set aside. As a result, objections were dropped to the nine ballots by both sides. The parties will return to court December 6, when McNally will decide how to proceed with the remaining ballots. On election hight, Kavanagh led by three votes out of nearly 50,000 cast. Clegg took the lead by 45 votes when the count of unchallenged absentee and affidavit ballots was concluded last week. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting Stewart Air National Guard Base is one of seven bases being considered to host a new Air Force Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. If selected, the base would provide in-flight patient care in response to contingencies and humanitarian emergencies, said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, an advocate for choosing Stewart. Gillibrand, who met with the 105th Airlift Wing in October, said “it is clear that their location at Newburgh and the Eastern Seaboard serves as a critical site for a new aeromedical evacuation squadron.” The New York Democrat said placing the mission at Stewart will improve the military's ability to respond to medical emergencies, "...as well as support job creation and economic growth in the Hudson Valley.” Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo December 4, announced the 2019 State Historic Preservation Awards, as well as the addition of 12 location nominated for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. "New York has transformed over centuries into a state defined by its diverse history, and there is no better way to see that history than in our unique architecture and places," Cuomo said in a press release. Among the recipients of the historic preservation awards this year are Innisfree, a 150-acre public garden in Millbrook, northern Dutchess County, recognized for its Excellence in Historic Documentation, as well as the Marshall Bice House, in Schoharie, and the Coeymans Stone House, in Coeymans, lauded for their Excellence in Historic Building Rehabilitation. On the list of nominations for the State and National Registers of Historic Places: the Sanford W. and Maude Smith House in Chatham. Built around 1875 and extensively remodeled in 1906, the house was home to Sanford W. Smith, a state Senator, Deputy Attorney General, and State Court of Claims Judge and State Supreme Court judge. A dozen historic locations statewide were nominated for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places, which can provide owners with grants and tax credits to support rehabilitation projects. Read the full press release at governor [dot] ny [dot] gov.

Michael Gormley is reporting for Newsday Moody's Investors Service December 4, issued a warning about New York's $6.1 billion budget deficit. The warning came one day after Assembly speaker Carl Heastie said he hopes to raise more in taxes to address the growing shortfall. The "credit negative" designation from the Wall Street credit rating agency is not a downgrade to the state's credit rating, but it “is indicative of the impact of a distinct event or development as one of many credit factors affecting the issuer,” according to a Moody's report. New York's credit rating remains a high “Aa1/stable outlook.” The Moody’s report is based on the Cuomo administration’s mid-year fiscal report released a week ago that projected a $6.1 billion deficit caused in part by a $4 billion increase in Medicaid spending. Medicaid provides health care for millions of low-income New Yorkers. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo attributed the deficit to the Medicaid shortfall, "...caused by the reduction in payments from the federal government,” he said. The Times Union has reported state officials are considering an expansion of the state bottle-deposit law to cover liquor and wine bottles. Read the full story at Newsday [dot] com.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news for Thu., Dec. 5. Produced by Philip Grant.

Click above to download or play today's "Better Weather." Produced by Joe Demanso of the Catskill Makers Syndicate.

Sarah Trafton reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Dutch American Architectural Group says the former Greene County Jail may be the only one of its kind left in the world. The Greene County Legislature wants to tear it down. The jail on Bridge Street in Catskill was built in 1908, and the jail and neighboring sheriff’s office are listed on both state and national historic registries. It was built with Ohio sandstone by Van Dorn in Cleveland, Ohio, and shipped to Catskill where the parts were brought up Bridge Street by horse. “The facades were never changed and represent a high quality jail of 1908,” a report from the Dutch American Architectural Group in collaboration with Historic Catskill. “All handmade with limited tools. It is rare and of exceptional architectonic value. The originality of this jail is rare and therefore it has a high Cultural Heritage value. This can be the only jail of this size and make in the world.” A similar jail complex was built in Oswego County in 1909 and demolished in 2018. Greene County says it would cost $4.8 million to demolish the jail and rehabilitate the other buildings, $10.7 million to renovate the entire complex, and $1.2 million to tear it all down and put up a new office building. Estimates from Barton & Loguidice are lower: $1.9 million to demolish the jail and rehabilitate the other buildings, $4.6 million to renovate all the buildings, and $1 million to tear the buildings down and put up a new 5,000-square-foot building. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Lola Fadulu reports in The New York Times that the Trump administration gave final approval Dec. 4 to a rule that will cut about 700,000 people from the federal food-stamp program. The rule will strictly enforce federal work requirements that governors have previously been allowed to waive. Locally, 10.7 percent of residents in the 19th Congressional District receive food stamps. Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary, explained the change saying, “We need to encourage people by giving them a helping hand but not allowing it to become an indefinitely giving hand.” New York Senator Chuck Schumer disagreed. “The Trump administration is driving the vulnerable into hunger just as the Christmas season approaches,” he said Dec. 4. “It is heartless. It is cruel. It exposes a deep and shameful cruelness and hypocrisy in this administration.” Read more about this story in The New York Times.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Dec. 3 that the new criminal justice law changes will save local governments money. Ending cash bail for misdemeanor and non-violent felonies is the biggest change coming to New York next year. “I think that over time if there’s less people who are actually in jail then there’s less cost of supervising people in jail, so I think it will eventually lead to a cost savings,” Heastie said. But law enforcement officials -- including several in Greene County -- local prosecutors and some state lawmakers have been asking for a delay in the changes. Heastie disagrees. “We have to get back to a system that treats people equally and fairly,” he said. Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that on Dec. 4 Ulster County legislators unanimously passed a 2020 budget that slightly increases spending and slightly reduces property taxes. New County Executive Pat Ryan proposed most of the $342.28 million budget, but legislators added amendments such as $10,000 for the People's Place food insecurity programs and $15,000 for out-of-county firefighter training for volunteer firefighters. Legislator amendments also reinstated a confidential secretary in the Comptroller's Office, and increased the salary and hours of the director of internal audit and control in the Comptroller's Office. "The budget I laid out aligned with every single thing I heard at the 20-plus town hall meetings I held across the county," Ryan said. When he receives the approved budget, he has five days to sign it or veto changes made by legislators. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Click above to download or play the audio version of the local news update for Wed., Dec. 4. (Produced by Philip Grant.)

Jeanette Wolfberg is reporting for The Columbia Paper the concerns expressed by Hudson aldermen about problems with the stairwell doors in Bliss Towers was discussed at a recent meeting of the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. HHA Executive Director Tim Mattice reported that “we’ve opened” the door to one of the stairwells and have ordered a camera at the location. Alarms will still sound when the door is open. And one will be able to open the doors to other stairwells only in case of fire. But “we’re working on that,” Mattice said. Also at the meeting, the board voted to accept a $470,000 elevator upgrade bid from Otis Elevator Company. The life span for an elevator is 20 years and the two, high-use lifts at Bliss are more than 20 years old and often out of order. The plan is to keep the machinery and to replace the controls and the doors with Otis brand equipment. The work would take 12 to 14 weeks per elevator to complete once approval is received and a down payment is made. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.

MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is pushing for continued federal funding for community health centers before the approaching December 20 Congressional deadline. The New York Democrat has called on lawmakers to not only approve the funding, but to do so at a higher rate. “I am requesting at least a 10 percent increase for the community health centers for five years and I hope Congress will also include $4.6 billion for capital projects, which would allow community health centers across the country to modernize their facilities and expand the scope that they offer,” she said. Gillibrand said without the approval, the health centers would lose 70 percent of their federal grant funding, forcing them to cut or scale back the services they provide. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.