Patricia R. Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman Kingston Common Council Majority Leader Rita Worthington has called for a public apology for the lack of any reference to the role of black people in the city’s history during its recent 150th-anniversary celebration. Mayor Steve Noble May 18, acknowledged the failure and called for a task force “committed to correcting the record and telling the inclusive story that Kingstonians deserve." In a “letter of disappointment," Worthington said she was struck during the anniversary event by the lack of any mention of black Americans, or their contributions to the city. “More than any other group in this country’s history, black Americans have served generation after generation, in an overlooked but vital role: without idealistic and patriotic efforts of black Americans our democracy would likely look very different,” Worthington said in the letter. She said at the May 13 celebration at City Hall, there were displays of 19th-century archival documents, guest speakers and historical re-enactors who spoke about the contributions made by various ethnic groups, including the Italians, Irish and English, but there was no mention of the contributions by African Americans. “Unfortunately, through omissions, downright errors, and inaccurate interpretations, not everyone enjoys the perks of civic belonging or gets a fair shake in historical accounts,” Worthington wrote. “African Americans built the plantations of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and likely the railroads and brickyards that run through the City of Kingston." In a statement, Noble admitted the city failed to include mention of African-American contributions to the city’s history. He said Worthington was not the only person to express disappointment over the omission. “I not only understand this disappointment and agree that the program overlooked black experiences, as well as our area’s Indigenous history, I see this moment as an important call to action,” Noble said. Noble has asked the director of the city’s arts and cultural affairs to help convene a task force to examine and correct the record. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Steve Barnes is reporting for the Times Union Albany TV reporter Ken Screven died May 18, at Albany Medical Center Hospital, following long struggles with multiple health problems. He was 71 years old. Screven was the first black man hired to work as a reporter for a Capital Region television station and was on the air for more than 30 years before spending the time since his retirement denouncing racism, bias, and bigotry. Most people knew Screven from his presence in their living rooms as a reporter for CBS6/WRGB, where he worked from 1977 until his retirement in 2011. He was also a prominent member of the LGBTQ community. In a statement, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan called Screven a trailblazer, citing his coverage of HIV/AIDS and a three-part series for CBS6, that traced his family's lineage back to a great-grandfather's grave in a segregated cemetery in Screven County, Ga. The series won an award for best documentary from the New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Sarah Trafton is reporting for Porcupine Soup the Catskill Farmers’ Market is back. After a three-year hiatus, the weekly market will open at 10 a.m. on Sun., May 29, in the parking lot located behind the Greene County Office Building at 411 Main Street. More than 20 vendors have signed up to participate. The market will be held every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 9. “We’re pretty excited to be able to provide village, town and county residents — and visitors — with fresh and high-quality products that are grown, raised and produced by local farmers and artisans,” Catskill Farmers Market Committee Vice President Elliott Matos said. When the farmer's market was running years ago in Catskill, it changed locations many times, from on Main Street, to parking lots, and Catskill Point. Other farmers' markets are held in Coxsackie on Wednesday; Lexington every other Saturday; Windham on Saturday; Tannersville on Saturday; Freehold on Thursday; East Durham on the second and fourth Saturday; the Blackthorne Resort in East Durham on Sunday; and Purling on Monday. Read the full story at porcupine soup [dot] com.

Current reports that in October last year South Dakota Public Broadcasting hired Stel Kline, who is transgender and uses they/them pronouns. They lasted until April this year. “My position has been terminated despite being told there was nothing for me to improve on at a recent quarterly review,” Kline wrote April 18 on Twitter. “I was told the reasoning is that I am not objective and have a problem with authority." The working relationship did not begin well. An announcement of Kline's hiring in SDPB’s member magazine was to include the use of they/them pronouns and a reference to Kline’s drag name. But Current obtained an email from Fritz Miller, SDPB director of programming and communication, objecting to that. “I’m suggesting that we dump the ‘they’ pronouns and use their last name throughout the article,” Miller wrote. “… I understand and appreciate that Stel is comfortable with sharing that information, and is doing what they can to live their true self, but I fear that the more hate-mongering segment of our population will seize upon this stuff and make it the issue du jour.” Kline says, “Through this very first day on the job, it was just glaringly evident to me that personal bias clouds judgment in this workplace.” In January 2022 during a quarterly review, Cara Hetland, SDPB’s director of journalism content, told Kline that they had nothing to improve upon in their performance. But when Kline was fired, Hetland said their retweet of a Dec. 1, 2021, message by an NPR journalist was an example of inappropriate social media use. That Tweet was about a Supreme Court hearing about a Mississippi abortion law, that included a picture of a sign with text stating “women are not the only people who get abortions.” Previously Kline had been told to share their experiences as a trans person in South Dakota on social media. In another Tweet Kline wrote, “In my interview I was very clear that as a trans person I am unable to be impartial about attacks on my humanity. Objectivity is not a static identity, but when wielded as such becomes the language of those with the most power.... Declaring someone not objective is a selective practice used effectively to exclude POC / queer journos.” Read more about this story at Current.

Today's daily news update.

Steve Hughes reports in the Times Union that Democrats Andrea Smyth and Craig Apple, and Republican Jake Ashby plan to run for the new New York State Senate District 43 seat this year. The new district includes includes Colonie, in Albany County, all of Rensselaer County, and parts of Washington County. Apple lives in Colonie, and also has a home in Rensselaer County, and is currently Albany County Sheriff. Smyth, ran and lost an election for Rensselaer County executive in 2017, and is executive director of the New York State Coalition for Children's Behavioral Health. Ashby currently is the 107th District Assemblymember. Apple reported $586,450 in his campaign account in his most recent filing with the state Board of Elections. Last October Apple filed a misdemeanor complaint on the charge of forcible touching against former governor Andrew Cuomo, but in January Albany County District Attorney David Soares asked a judge to dismiss the complaint. Republican Daphne Jordan used to represent Rensselaer County in the state Senate, but lives in Halfmoon, and is switching to that area's proposed 44th district, where she will take on fellow Republican incumbent Jim Tedisco. That district covers all of Saratoga County and the eastern part of Schenectady County, which includes Niskayuna. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Nick Reisman reports in New York State of Politics that the League of Women Voters sued May 19 to combine the state's primary elections that are currently scheduled weeks apart. Currently, there will be State Assembly and statewide primaries on June 28 and primary elections for the state Senate and congressional races on Aug. 23. That could cost taxpayers as much as $30 million for each election. The lawsuit seeks to have all voting on Aug. 23. “The State Board of Elections, apparently with the support of the leaders of both major political parties, put in place a deliberately exclusionary electoral regime for statewide offices designed to limit further competition in the primary and from independent candidates in the general election," said Laura Ladd Bierman, the executive director of the League of Women Voters. "Our suit requests the Court to order the postponement of the statewide primary from June 28 to August 23, 2022 – the same date as State Senate and Congressional primaries -- and extend the deadline for gathering signatures for both the party primaries and independent candidates seeking to qualify for the general election.” A judge ruled the initial new district maps for Congressional and state Senate seats were gerrymandered, and a court-appointed special master drew new maps, but the delay meant those elections could not happen in time for June 28. Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.

Ted Remsnyder reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the upgrades for the Hunter Transfer Station are costing taxpayers more money, as Greene County Legislature’s Finance Committee unanimously approved spending an additional $17,758 on the project at its meeting May 16. The full legislature still needs to approve the additional funds. Scott Templeton, the county’s Highway and Solid Waste Department superintendent, is blaming the state. “Unfortunately the state of New York did not review and approve the plans until October,” Templeton said. “Because of those (state) delays, the cost of materials, the cost of construction and the cost of everything has risen.” After various legislators bashed the state government at a May 9 meeting, Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden defended the state. “Because of COVID the state basically went remote and things just got slowed down,” he said. “It’s difficult to criticize that so much, but I don’t know if they are fully back to the office or are they still doing a combination of remote work?" Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Monday, May 30 is Memorial Day, and Porcupine Soup rounds up where there are events for the holiday in Greene County. Catskill starts thins off on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 21, at 1:30 p.m.with a Memorial Service at the Catskill Veterans Cemetery, North Jefferson Avenue. Greene County hosts the Honor a Vet Memorial Ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21 at the Warehouse on the Historic Catskill Point with a posthumous honoree: WWII POW SSGT Rudolph Phillips of East Durham. Windham has a Memorial Program at 9 a.m. Friday, May 27 starting at the Windham Ashland Jewett Central School front bus loop, then heading to the Ashland Cemetery, Windham Cemetery, and Hensonville Monument near the Town Hall. On Memorial Day itself there are events in Athens, Greenville, Cairo, New Baltimore, Coxsackie, and Prattsville. In Athens, a parade starts at 9 a.m. on May 30 at at Wheat Street/Rt. 385, with stops at the Triangle to lay wreaths, and then proceeds up Franklin Street to TGM American Legion Post 187 with speakers and refreshments. Greenville's parade begins at 10:15 a.m. at St John’s Church, then heads down State Route 81 into the hamlet with a Memorial Service following parade at the Greenville Veterans Park Gazebo. Cairo's parade steps off at 11 a.m. near Schindlers auto shop on Main St. and heads to Angelo Canna Town Park with a Memorial Service with American Legion Mohican Post 983. There's also a Memorial Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at the Coeymans Hollow Fire Department at 1290 Route 143. Coxsackie's parade begins at 1 p.m. on Apple Blossom Lane, and proceeds down Mansion Street, with stops at the WWII Monument, the Mansion Street Cemetery, and the WWI Monument at the church corners before ending at Village Hall. And Prattville's Virgil E. Deyo American Legion Post 1327 hosts its annual Memorial Day parade at 1 p.m. with a Memorial Ceremony to follow at the Town Green. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

Today's daily news update.

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Voters in all 12 school districts in Greene and Columbia counties on Tue., May 17, overwhelmingly approved the districts' proposed 2022-23 spending plans. and ballot propositions. Parry Teasdale is reporting in The Columbia Paper the margin of victory in the New Lebanon district was so large for the budget and a bus purchase proposition that, in a brief website letter to the community, schools Superintendent Andrew Kourt referred to the victories as “80 percent” and “70 percent” respectively. The budget for Ichabod Crane received strong support, winning approval with 1,155 yes votes compared to 597 voting no. The proposition to purchase four school buses for $444,000 was green-lighted by voters with a margin almost as large as the budget vote tally. In Hudson, the $54 million budget was easily approved and in the Board of Education election, incumbents Willette Jones, Lakia Walker and Mark DePace were re-elected to three-year terms; Kjirsten Gustavson received the fourth highest number of votes and will be awarded one of the partial terms ending in June 2023. The fifth open seat, with a partial term ending in June 2023, was won by Calvin Lewis, a write-in candidate. In Greene County, the story was similar. Ted Remsnyder is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media budgets in the Catskill, Coxsackie-Athens, Cairo-Durham, Hunter-Tannersville and Windham-Ashland-Jewett districts, were all approved by wide margins. Catskill Central School District Superintendent Ronel Cook wrote in an email Wednesday, “We thank our taxpayers for their support with helping us to maintain our current level of staffing, while providing students with the highest quality of academics and extracurricular programs. ... I am extremely happy for our students, staff and the community.” Voters in the Greenville district approved the proposed budget as well as a $1.1 million proposition to purchase 10 new vehicles. In the Cairo-Durham board election, Incumbent Todd Hilgendorff was re-elected to a three-year term, with James H. McManus III and Cheryl Moore also earning seats on the board. All local districts kept their tax levy increases at or below the state-mandated cap.

Andrea Macko is reporting for Porcupine Soup Stephen Baker, owner of Moore’s Homes in Prattsville, pleaded guilty this month in Prattsville Town Court to one count of offering a false instrument for filing, a misdemeanor. As part of the plea deal, federal fraud charges were withdrawn, said Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione. In November 2019, Baker and former Prattsville Town Supervisor Kory O’Hara were indicted in federal court for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and theft. O’Hara was also charged with bank fraud and making false statements in a loan application. In March, Baker agreed to plead guilty to a state misdemeanor, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed to then dismiss the federal charges, thereby satisfying the federal government's case against Baker. “He was sentenced to pay a fine and was granted a conditional discharge; the condition being that he engage in no further criminal activity,” Stanzione said. In August 2011, Hurricane Irene tore through northeastern New York. O’Hara was serving as the town supervisor at the time and under his administration, the town secured millions of dollars in federal rehabilitation funds. It was alleged that O’Hara and Baker used phony invoices from Baker’s modular home business to bill for work on O’Hara’s Service Station that was never done. According to authorities, O’Hara and Baker engaged in the fraud from 2013 through 2015. Both men were accused of profiting from the fraud by collecting funds through the New York State Main Street Program, the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and applying for a business loan with NBT Bank. As part of the plea agreement reached in March, O’Hara is expected to plead guilty to one count of the federal indictment, but exactly which charge O’Hara will plead to has not been disclosed. Also in March, Senior U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin agreed to a 90-day continuance for the parties to finalize the agreement. Read more at porcupine soup [dot] com.

Nick Reisman is reporting for State of Politics state lawmakers are pushing for the merger of the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, and the Office of Mental Health with the intention of better serving those facing both addiction and mental health crises. The state Senate on May 17, approved a bill that would merge both offices, creating the new Office of Addiction and Mental Health Services. “Not a week goes by that I don’t get a call from a family who has lost a loved one, who said their family member was in and out of treatment six, seven, eight, nine times, but because they never treated their underlying mental health disorder, they kept self-medicating until fentanyl caught up to them,” said state Sen. Peter Harckham. He said the measure will break down existing barriers in treatment programs, and follow the federal government’s recommendation for integrated care. Seventy percent of people who have a substance abuse disorder also have an underlying mental health disorder. That overlap rises to 90 percent when a person is in crisis. Half of those living with a mental illness also have an underlying substance abuse disorder. Harckham also wants to create a seven-person standing advisory committee on addiction and mental health programs for the purpose of crafting policy for prevention, care and treatment for people facing mental illness and addiction as well as a comprehensive plan for implementation. There has been a record rise in overdose deaths statewide over the last two years, coinciding with the COVID pandemic. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.

Anyone who needs to know what time it is, and does not have a clock, or a watch, or any sort of computer, can still find out. The U.S. Naval Observatory still maintains a phone number, 202-762-1401, where anyone can call and hear the exact time. The Navy has several other time numbers, some just for modems. And Jock Elliott reports in the SWLing Blog that there are several shortwave radio stations also set up with only the time of day, repeating endlessly, as content. "The National Institute of Standards and Technology (part of the U.S. Department of Commerce) maintains a couple of stations devoted to broadcasting time announcements, standard time intervals, standard frequencies, UT1 time corrections, a BCD time code, and geophysical alerts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," Elliott writes. WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado, is one station, radiating 10,000 watts on 5 MHz, 10 MHz, and 15 MHz; and 2500 watts on 2.5 MHz and 20 MHz. WWVH, based in Kekaha, Hawaii, transmits 10,000 watts on 10 MHz and 15 MHz, and 5000 watts on 2.5 MHz. "WWV uses a male voice; WWVH, a female voice. They are staggered in time so that they don’t talk over each other. While doing research for this blog, one afternoon on 5 MHz and 10 MHz, I could hear the female voice, followed by the male voice, so I was hearing both Hawaii and Colorado," Elliott writes. There is also a Canadian time station, CHU, transmitting 3000 watts on 3.33 and 14.67 MHz, and a 5000 watts on 7.85 MHz in English and French from Barrhaven, Ontario. And there is also a time station beaming from Moscow, Russia that transmits on 9996 and 14996 kHz. Read more about this story at the SWLing Post..

Today's daily news update.

Democrat Josh Riley switched where he is running for Congress on May 15, just after the district maps were announced, Syracuse.com reports. Riley, born and raised in Endicott, just west of Binghamton, was going to run in the 22nd District, but the lines shifted May 15, when the court-appointed special master released new maps for the state's Congressional District. Instead, Riley is going to run in the 19th District, which next year will stretch from Columbia and Greene counties west through Binghamton and Ithaca to Tompkins County. Riley says he has experience as Rep. Maurice Hinchey's staff assistant, and worked on unemployment insurance at the United States Department of Labor before going to law school. He has also been a law clerk for Judge Kim Wardlaw on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California, and as General Counsel to U.S. Senator Al Franken on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Riley, though, will have one of the oddest election season's ever. Delgado is expected to resign soon, as Gov. Kathy Hochul recently picked him to be her lieutenant. Depending on when Delgado resigns, there will be a special election on August 23, or thereabouts, for the seat in the old district between Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, a Democrat, and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, a Republican. Riley could be in a primary election for the new district seat on the same day. Then Ryan will run for the 18th Congressional District seat in November. And if Riley makes it to the general election, he will face a Republican, most likely Molinaro, who could be an incumbent by then.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that the new state Senate district lines released this week by the court-appointed special master. The new maps have some incumbents moved out of their districts, and has other candidates switching their previously announced plans. State Senator Michelle Hinchey, for instance, currently represents the 46th District. But Hinchey is based in Saugerties, and the 46th District, under the new maps, is now moved to Albany County, and other areas farther north. So, instead, Hinchey has announced she will compete in the 41st District, which under the new maps covers all of Ulster and Columbia counties, and the northern half of Dutchess County. Currently, Republican Sue Serino of Hyde Park represents that district, and Jamie Cheney, a Democrat from Rhinebeck, was set to oppose her. Now Hinchey and Cheney face each other in the August primary election, before the general election in November. Republican Rich Amedure was running against Hinchey in the 46th District. Republican Daphne Jordan currently represents the 43rd District, which will now represent all of Rensselaer County, a tiny portion of northeast Albany County, and southern Washington County. Greene County will get a new representative, switching from the 46th District to the 51st District. Republican Peter Oberacker, from Schenevus, is the incumbent there, with the new district similar to the new 19th Congressional District, stretching west to Binghamton. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman .

Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Columbia County resident Emily Nooners tore down two White Lives Matter banners over Interstate 90 on May 14. The banners read, “Stop White Replacement” and “Wake up White New Yorkers.” The Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center both call the White Lives Matter group racist. “I’m driving down the highway and I just see these banners up and I immediately felt sick,” said Nooners. “I almost didn’t believe that that was what it had said because from a distance it was quite small. I just kind of notated where I thought it was, being familiar with the area. Then I saw a second one, and I was like, Oh yeah, we’re going to get those. I could just not fathom the idea that some people would have to drive under them.” One of the banners was on the overpass in Chatham and the other on the overpass near Exit B1. “I had no idea that at the very same time that I had been compulsed to cut these down the shooting was happening in Buffalo,” Nooners said. “I returned to my house around 2:40 p.m., which means I was pulling those banners down just before and during. Which I didn’t find out until later in the evening.” Ten people were killed and several others wounded by a gunman in Buffalo who posted on online screed with the same conspiracy theory about white replacement mentioned in one of the banners. “I have a really sick feeling. The shooting happened in Buffalo. These signs were posted along 90, and 90 is the route that leads to Buffalo,” Nooners said. “Some people kind of thought that maybe it might have been a trail. It’s just uncomfortable to think about the proximity, it’s so close to our community, it’s disturbing.” Read more about this story in HudsonValley360.com.

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