Raymond Pignone reports in Columbia-Greene Media that in Philmont there's a battle over the environment with a resolution to disband the village’s Climate Smart Task Force. On March 13 30 climate-denying conspiracy theorists presented a draft resolution asking about dissolving the climate smart task force. Only a trustee can introduce a resolution in Philmont, though. Michael Richardson of the activist group Rivers & Mountains GreenFaith said, of the folks offering the resolution, "Of those 30 people, many of them are not from Philmont.... Many of them were from Stand Up Massachusetts, an extreme libertarian group from Great Barrington, and Neighbors 2 Neighbors.” The resolution seems to deny the fact that burning fossil fuels is changing the climate. The right-wing environmental groups are mobilizing elsewhere in Columbia County. Neighbors 2 Neighbors, Smarter NY Energy and the Empire Center for Public Policy hold a New York State Climate Act Town Hall on March 26 at Columbia-Greene Community College hosted by Columbia County Clerk Holly Tanner with former state Sen. Daphne Jordan, both Republicans. Richardson said the event is "like the Marlboro Man telling you that if you smoke these cigarettes, you’ll turn into a cowboy.” Read more about this story in Columbia-Greene Media.

Porcupine Soup reports that the village of Hunter won't provide the election results, but they say Alan Higgins defeated incumbent Mayor Michael Papa in the March 21 election. Higgins resigned and Papa ran for his seat and won, but Higgins was not happy with Papa's term and called him a bully in his campaign to retake the seat. The town also says Jason DiLeo got more votes -- they don't say how many more -- than Tyler Kelaher and Abraham Stefansky to take the board of trustees seat in Hunter. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Patricia R. Doxsey reports in the Daily Freeman that Ulster County residents told their legislature on March 21 that they need affordable housing. Katrina Houser moved to Kingston with her mother in 1874 and said, “I’m a lifelong resident with nowhere to go, with an income to pay rent, but the rent’s too high for me to pay it.” Kingston resident Anne Ames said, “The gentrification and displacement has gotten way out of hand.... There is no housing. People don’t have any place to go.” The 2021 Ulster County Housing Plan backs up these stories with statistics. The reports said that the average wager earner in Ulster County has to work at least 67 hours a week to avoid being considered “rent burdened,” which is defined as spending more than one-third of one’s income on housing costs. Ulster County legislators are expected to vote on a new law to help the affordable housing crisis in April. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Liz Montgomery reports for Porcupine Soup that Cairo-Durham High School has a new principal. David Proper was appointed by the Cairo-Durham Board of Education on March 9 as interim principal at the high school. Former high school principal Jeremy Moore resigned February 16 due to personal reasons, with officials providing no explanation. Proper comes from 23 years in the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District, serving there as a vice principal and athletic director for 10 years and the middle school principal for his last 13 years. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Today's audio daily news update.

The public still does not know some election results from voting in village elections on March 21. One update in Chatham, the trustee election for two seats is a bit unusual. Peter Minahan got the most votes, with 157. Brandon Gaylord received 55 votes, but Ralph O'Mara Garcia received 124 write-in votes, to take the second seat. Voters are still waiting for results from Hunter in Greene County, and Kinderhook, Philmont, and Valatie in Columbia County.

Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that prison officials across the state are still regularly putting prisoners in solitary confinement a year after New York enacted laws to prevent the prolonged solitary confinement of inmates. Putting people in solitary confinement for extended periods of time has long been viewed as torture, but prison officials are violating the new rules, according to a report by the Correctional Association of New York, an independent organization authorized to monitor prison conditions. The group found there has been "numerous departures from basic adherence" to the Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement Act, which took effect last year after being signed into law in March 2021 by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The report found that some inmates are being held in isolation in special housing units for "six times the legal limit." Some people not allowed in solitary confinement because of the new rules, still are being held in solitary confinement, including those aged 21 or younger and 55 or older, or who suffer from mental, medical, or physical disabilities. Individuals being held in "residential rehabilitative units," transitional disciplinary units are supposed to get six hours of "out of cell" programming and an additional hour of recreation, but often are not allowed out or are held in restraints. The report wants the corrections department to, "publicly articulate explanations for (its) lack of adherence to or full implementation of each of HALT’s requirements and outline steps that can be taken now to follow the law’s requirements." Read the full story in the Times Union.

Nancy Kern reports in Columbia-Greene Media checks in with two local banks about what they are doing after two large U.S. banks failures in the past 10 days. Share prices of three of the publicly held community banks of Greene and Columbia counties have dropped, with the Bank of Greene County’s stock value down 12.7 percent, and a 9.7 percent loss at Pioneer Bank, and a 4.2 percent loss at Community Bank. That's somewhat better than some larger banks such as Citigroup and Wells Fargo, where stock values have fallen 8 to 14 percent. Bank of Greene County President Donald Gibson listed some of the differences between his bank and the ones that failed, saying, “They didn’t have a diversified customer base and didn’t have a well-balanced portfolio." Sunmark Credit Union President Frank DeGraw said, “In the days since the news of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, we have not seen an outflow of deposits from Sunmark Credit Union.... Our membership is far more diverse and we are structured very differently than the banks that are failing. Our members understand that we are a strong financial institution that has successfully weathered significant market challenges over our 85-plus years and have confidence in their relationships with us.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360.com.

The New York State Department of Transportation is closing one lane of the Taconic State Parkway in each direction between Exit 80 at State Route 82 and County Route 10 in the Town of Taghkanic, beginning at 7 a.m. March 22 through 5 p.m., Friday, March 24, to work on bridge maintenance. Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone, motorists are warned. Convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual’s driver license.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

Most election results from villages in Greene and Columbia counties are in so far. Results for Hunter, Kinderhook, Philmont, and Valatie have not been posted online yet.

COLUMBIA COUNTY
Village of Chatham
Mayor (vote for one)
John F. Howe winner with 173 votes.
Trustee (vote for two)
Peter Minahan got the most votes, with 157. Brandon Gaylord received 55 votes, but that might not be enough for second place, as there were 127 write-in votes.

Village of Kinderhook Trustee (vote for two) James Mark Browne Quinn Murphy Village of Philmont
Mayor (vote for one)
Brian T. Johnson
Trustee (vote for two)
Jason Detzel
Clarence "Skip" Speed

Village of Valatie Mayor (vote for one)
Frank Bevens
Trustee (vote for two)
Larry Eleby
Matt Carter

GREENE COUNTY
Village of Athens: Mayor (vote for one)
Incumbent Democrat Amy A. Serrago received 284 votes, and Republican David Leggio got 94 votes.

Trustee (vote for two)
Democrat Alison P. Phoenix, with 241 votes, and Republican Anthony J. Proper Sr., with 193 votes, won the two seats on the board in Athens over Democrat Joshua B. Lipsman, with 174 votes, and Gordon W. Mosher, a Republican with 129 votes. There were four other write-in votes.

Village of Catskill: Trustee (vote for one)
Incumbent Joseph D. Kozloski got all 112 votes.

Village of Coxsackie: Mayor (vote for one)
Incumbent Republican Mark R. Evans, with 354 votes, soundly beat Democrat Veronica L. Foley, with 161 votes, for mayor.
Trustee (vote for two)
Republican Rodney E. Levine, with 289 votes, and Democrat Donald A. Daoust, with 277 votes, won the two seats in Coxsackie. Republican Cesar O. Echevarria, with 244 votes, and Democrat Christopher J. Chimento, with 206 votes, finished behind.

Village of Tannersville: Mayor (vote for one)
Democrat David A. Schneider, with 94 votes, beat longtime mayor Lee E. McGunnigle, with 87 votes.
Trustee (vote for two)
David P, Kashman with 147 votes, and Dylan M. Legg, with 145 votes, took the two board seats in Tannersville.
Village Justice (vote for one)
George C. Bain Jr. got all 147 votes, except for two write-in votes.

Village of Hunter
Mayor (vote for one)
Alan W. Higgins
Michael J. Papa
Trustee (vote for one)
Jason N. DiLeo
Tyler Kelaher
Abraham Stefansky

The Daily Freeman reports that Dutchess County sheriff’s deputies started wearing body-worn cameras last week, Sheriff Kirk Imperati announced on March 17. Imperati, in a press release, said, “The cameras have been provided to sworn members of the Sheriff’s Office in order to provide greater transparency, build community trust, and further honor the commitment to our Police Reform and Modernization Plan.” Police said the cameras record audio and video when officers respond to incidents or take “official action, including but not limited to using force and making arrests.” Imperati also said, “The cameras are expected to be of significant overall benefit to both the deputies and the public that they serve as we move forward and get better together.” Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Noah Zweifel reports in the Altamont Enterprise that several southern Albany County towns have or are considering tax exemptions to attract more first responders. Knox has already granted a 10-percent tax exemption for first responders, while several other towns are holding public hearings to consider tax breaks their for emergency personnel. "In the Hilltowns, ambulance services have shut down in recent years due to flagging numbers, and the remaining one, Helderberg Ambulance, has turned to the State University of New York system to attract student-recruits with the promise of a $5,000 scholarship per semester per student," Zweifel writes. Rensselaerville holds a public hearing on the matter at its town board meeting at 6:45 p.m., on March 23 at the town hall. The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education holds a public hearing about this at 7 p.m., on March 27 in the elementary school cafeteria. Westerlo’s public hearing is at 6 p.m., April 4 at the town hall. And Berne will have the matter on the agenda for their April 12 meeting at 7 p.m. at the Berne Community and Senior Center. Read more about this story in the Altamont Enterprise.

Today's audio daily news update.

Lana Bellamy reports in the Times Union that on March 20 the city of Beacon became the third municipality in New York to pass legislation to prohibit the use of natural gas in nearly all newly constructed buildings and major renovations. The new rule, passed unanimously, takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Emergency backup power, manufactured homes, municipal sewer and water facilities, and buildings designated for occupancy by a manufacturing facility, commercial food establishments, laboratories, laundromats, crematoriums, hospitals or other medical facilities are exempt, as is any project approved by the Planning Board before June 30, 2023. A hardship exemption with the Zoning Board is sometimes possible. Councilman Dan Aymar-Blair said in a statement, that, "Beacon's emissions will only go down from here.... We should all be proud of the moment; we turned the ship." A statewide version of this bill, the "all-electric building act," is currently in the state Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

David Smith reports in The Guardian that the Indivisible activist group is targeting 18 Republican members of the House of Representatives from districts that Joe Biden won in the election of 2020, including Marc Molinaro. Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible says of the 18 Republicans, “They are basically Marjorie Taylor Greenes in how they vote.... We have a clear goal and that is: let’s make these folks famous – famous locally, specifically. Let’s make it as clear as possible to their constituents that they are in fact backing up the Maga majority.” Molinaro is the freshman representative in New York's 19th Congressional District. Six of the targets of the Indivisible group are New York Republicans. Read the full story in The Guardian.

William J. Kemble reports in the Daily Freeman that voters in Saugerties March 21 will see a correct ballot, but absentee ballots, the village website, and a bulletin notice in the village office all incorrectly listed the term for the uncontested position of mayor this year. Incumbent Mayor William Murphy is the only candidate seeking the two-year term, and he is on the New Vision Party line. While the ballots on election day are correct, the length of the mayoral term was still incorrect on the village website as of 6:17 p.m. the day before the election. Ulster County Democratic Elections Commissioner Ashley Dittus said, “It kind of exposes the village to somebody filing a lawsuit.... Anybody who’s qualified to vote in that election could file a lawsuit and I don’t know how the court would land on that. I don’t think there’s any case law on that. … I know there’s case law if there’s somebody who put it on the petition wrong, but I don’t know if there’s anything like that for elections that boards have run.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Here is this week's WGXC Congressional Report, tracking the votes, statements, positions, and campaigns of the representatives and candidates for the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Congressional seats in New York. Democrat Pat Ryan is representing the 18th Congressional District, Republican Marc Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Paul Tonko represents the 20th District, and Republican Elise Stefanik represents the 21st District. Click here to listen to this report.

Brian Hubert reports for the Daily Freeman that Rep. Marc Molinaro discussed potential cuts or changes to Social Security and Medicare and the debt ceiling at a town hall-style forum March 15 in Saugerties. Two dozen people held signs of protest at the meeting at the Cedar Grove Firehouse on state Route 32, with messages such as, “Keep Medicare and Social Security Corporate Free, no Reach,” “I want my traditional government-run Medicare and Social Security” and “Tax the Rich, Save Social Security.” Molinaro said that “Medicare and Social Security should be removed from budget conversations.... I do not believe, nor could I support Congress nickeling and diming our way to diminish the value of the programs.” Molinaro said he supports a bipartisan bicameral commission to assure the long-term solvency of Social Security. Molinaro would not say directly if he would vote for raising the country's debt limit, but said, “I want to make sure America doesn’t default on its debt.... I don’t want to devastate services that our most vulnerable rely on. I don’t want to undermine those sacred trusts, Medicare and Social Security, that we rely on.” The possibility of a Hudson Valley train derailment with hazardous material was raised by one citizen after the Ohio train accident in February, and Molinaro said, “We’ve demanded Norfolk has to identify all the failings that may or may have not led to this and that the EPA and the Federal Department of Transportation need to identify lack of enforcement, meaning there are regulations that should’ve been enforced but weren’t that resulted in this.... Let’s understand the disease so we can determine the medicine.” Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Mid-Hudson News reports of some New York reaction to former President Donald Trump claiming on March 18 that he would be arrested on March 21. Trump says he will be arrested for the alleged $130,000 "hush money" payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik seemed to say that Trump was leaking the news, which she called "illegal." But then she went on to attack the independent investigation of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. On March 18 New York State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox released a statement misspelling “Manhattan” twice, and saying, “This is a blatant political scheme by Alvin Bragg to play to his liberal Manhatten base by smearing, tearing down, and demeaning former President Trump." Michael Dupree, the Chair of the Dutchess County Democratic Committee responded, saying, “Ed Cox should know that no one is above the law, and he should know how to spell, too.” Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Paul Kirby in the Daily Freeman reports that Democrat Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro have little to say about former President Donald Trump’s claim that he will be arrested March 21 in connection with hush-money payments made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels. Only the former president has said that he will be arrested, there is no confirmation from any official source. Molinaro’s communications director, Dan Kranz, would only say in an email that, “A charge has not been brought yet and Congressman Molinaro is not speculating about what could be in it,” and, “Regarding the call for protest, Congressman Molinaro always thinks protests need to be peaceful.” All Ryan would say in a brief statement is that, “No one is above the law.... Anyone who breaks the law or seeks to undermine the rule of law must be held fully accountable.” Ryan represents the 18th Congressional District, and Molinaro the 19th Congressional District. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Rep. Marc Molinaro spoke in front of a local conservative audience at the 60th annual Lincoln Award Dinner at Kozel’s Restaurant in Ghent on March 16. Molinaro was asked about a Texas court possibly blocking access to Mifepristone, an abortion drug, and he said, “I supported accessing contraception as a member of the state Assembly.... I voted to have that drug approved for over-the-counter use and, so, from my perspective, we certainly want to ensure that women and families have access to both the contraception and care that they desperately want.” In an interview with the newspaper, Molinaro also said he has no interest in increasing the tax rate on the wealthy, who pay a historically low share of taxes. Molinaro said, "I don’t think America and the federal government have a revenue problem. They have a spending problem.... While there are so many that want us to confront the issues of America financial conditions, first by talking about taxes, I’d like us to talk about responsibility for taxpayers’ money and not taking it from taxpayers to begin with." Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Today's daily news audio update.