Today's daily news update.

Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Greene County Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative met October 28, welcoming police chiefs from seven Greene County municipalities. The top cops from Catskill, Coxsackie, Athens, Cairo, Durham, Hunter and Windham answered the collaborative's questions about their respective department's policies and training. All the police chiefs and the sheriff reported that their agencies had active use-of-force policies in place, policies that ban chokeholds. All agencies receive de-escalation and bias training. None of the agencies have body cameras or dashboard cameras. Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden said the county is exploring a camera option for the sheriff’s office in the next fiscal year. In addition to the expense, the cameras are labor-intensive and the office would need dedicated personnel to monitor the feed and make sure the cameras are working properly and to retrieve footage if there is an incident, Kusminsky said. The group discussed the racial breakdown of arrests in the county. According to statistics compiled by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, law enforcement agencies in Greene County arrested 944 whites, 146 blacks, 87 Latino and Hispanics and 6 Asians in 2019. Cornwallville resident Bernard Rivers lamented the collaborative's lack of diversity, noting young black men are the demographic having the most issues with police. “I look at your committee and I don’t see any young black males,” he said. “We’re not hearing the stuff we need to.” Catskill Central School District Superintendent Ronel Cook, who is black, took issue with Rivers' comments, saying he considers himself to be a young black man. “I do experience some of the same issues as young black males. I’m raising a 16-year-old black male. I work with young black males as a superintendent.” Greenville resident Thomas Kearney asked what is meant by the term police safety, saying it is sometimes used as an excuse for behavior. “It’s the individual officer’s perception of whether or not he feels safe,” Catskill Police Chief David Darling said. The concept is too subjective, Kearney said. Hunter resident Christine Wade asked the police chiefs if they feel fear while on duty. “I hesitate to say afraid,” Hunter Police Chief Robert Haines said. “To a certain extent, yes. But it’s not something I don’t think I can overcome, otherwise I would quit this job.” It is not the community’s job to make police feel safe, but the police’s job to keep the community safe, Kearney said. Kearney also questioned why the Greene County Sheriff’s Office uses deputies to address overdose victims with its Impacted Citizen’s Program. Through the program, an armed, plainclothes team makes contact with the victim within 24 to 72 hours and connects them to treatment resources, Greene County Sheriff Pete Kusminsky said. The program has an 85 percent success rate, he said. The collaborative will next meet on November 10, Groden said. Read more at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Lauren Stanforth is reporting for the Times Union the state Department of Health and Division of Consumer Protection has provided guidance on how to trick-or-treat as safely as possible during the pandemic. Some municipalities have called for trick-or-treating to be canceled, so pay attention to the rules imposed in your area. To trick-or-treat safely:
• Wear a mask! A Halloween mask does not count as a protective cloth mask. The same masks that work for protection day-to-day during the pandemic should be worn when trick-or-treating.
• Trick-or-treat only with your household.
• Do not take candy from a bowl or receive candy directly from someone’s hands.
• When giving out treats, consider sitting outside and lining up individually pre-package treat bags on a table. 
• Consider attending an organized community event instead of going door-to-door.
• Wash hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer before, during and after any Halloween activities.
• In apartment buildings, consider organizing a socially-distant outdoor gathering to prevent trick-or-treating inside the building.
• Consider wiping the outside of packages down after returning home.

Heather Bellow is reporting for The Berkshire Eagle Great Barrington residents are learning they may have to wait up to two years for a temporary bridge needed to reopen a critical road. The town-owned Division Street bridge, that spans the Housatonic River and links routes 183 and 41, was deemed unsafe last year. Town officials learned this week the bridge is in worse shape than it was initially thought, and the pandemic is delaying the release of state funds that would pay for an emergency fix. The extent of deterioration is such that the temporary project would be more expensive than anticipated, approaching $2.5 million to $3 million. The 143-foot bridge, built in 1950, had already been approved at the 2019 annual town meeting for a $4 million overhaul. A July 2019 inspection resulted in an indefinite shutdown, except to pedestrians and bicycles. Following complaints from business owners and residents, the Department of Public Works came up with a fix that would take roughly one year, and open the bridge for the weight load it had when it was shut down. It would keep the road open until a full, permanent replacement was possible. Democrat state Rep. William Pignatelli of Lenox said he would do his best to help move state funding along. He acknowledged the pandemic has delayed practically everything, including state government. He noted the bridge is one of dozens in the county that are rated structurally deficient because they are old. “So many bridges in Massachusetts were all built around the same time, and they are all coming to age out at the same time,” Pignatelli said. Read the full story in The Berkshire Eagle.

Today's daily news.

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

The latest wave of coronavirus cases continues in the upper Hudson Valley. There were nine new COVID-19 cases announced Oct. 29 in Columbia County. The Ichabod Crane schools, which have one student who tested positive in the middle school and two students in the high school, announced Oct. 29 that while the elementary and middle schools will be back to in-person classes on Oct. 30, the high school will not return to in-person classes until Nov. 9. Across the Hudson River, Greene County announced five more COVID-19 cases on Oct. 29. There were also five new cases announced in Rensselaer County on Oct. 29, with 88 active cases now in the county. In Albany County, the health department announced that four employees in the health department contracted the virus. “Four of our employees have tested positive and while the rest of the department is being tested, we are following the same protocol that we would expect of any other business and that means a two-week PAUSE at the ACDOH building,” said Albany County Executive Dan McCoy. “I have said it hasn’t gone away and it can impact anyone.” In all, Albany County announced 19 new cases on Oct. 29, with eight new people in the hospital for a total of 24 patients. That is the highest number of patients hospitalized with coronavirus from Albany County since June, and double the amount of hospitalized patients since just last week. "For a long time, we saw spikes in positive cases without it having a serious effect on our hospital data, but that is clearly not the case. What's more, is that our hospitals serve a massive region, not just Albany County, and that needs to be taken into consideration. And the sad truth is that as you start to see hospitalizations rise, you are likely to see more people losing their lives to the virus," McCoy said in a statement. Gov. Andrew Cuomo blamed small gatherings for much of the new cases throughout the state, and worried that upcoming holidays would create more problems with people not wearing masks and breathing inside with each other. "It’s these small gatherings that are creating issues," Cuomo said.

Aliya Schneider is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media John J. Privitera, attorney for A. Colarusso and Son, has accused two members of the Hudson Planning Board of bias and conflict of interest over the company’s application to make dock and road improvements at 175 South Front Street. Board members Clark Wieman and Larry Bowne denied the allegations. In a letter to the full board, Privitera called on Bowne and Wieman to recuse themselves from any further votes on the Colarusso project. In making the allegations, he cited personal and business relationships and involvement with Our Hudson Waterfront, a group opposed to the Colarusso project. The accusations followed Privitera's review of an invoice for hours billed by Planning Board attorney Victoria Polidoro to Colarusso’s escrow account, which covers expenses incurred by the city in its review of the project. He discovered the attorney was billing for time spent on conflict issues related to individual members of the board. In addition to arguing the bill was inappropriate and illegal because individual employees and board members must seek their own counsel concerning such matters, he also asked that both board members be recused from the approval process. In particular, he said Wieman’s domestic and business partner, Julie Metz, has been an active opponent of the Colarusso application, speaking out against the matter at various public hearings. Both Wieman and Metz also have been members of the Our Hudson Waterfront group, as well. Wieman impermissibly prejudged the application from the start, Privitera wrote, citing various statements made by Wieman during a number of public meetings. Privitera also noted Bowne’s history as an outspoken opponent of the application and said that activism creates a bias that requires his recusal, as well. Bowne was also a member of Our Hudson Waterfront, and spoke out frequently against the industrial use of Hudson's waterfront before he became a member of the planning board. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Ariél Zangla is reporting for the Daily Freeman a virtual public forum being held by Kingston's Re-envision Public Safety Task Force was cut short before it could begin because the event was Zoom bombed. The task force was scheduled to hold the first of two public forums the night of October 28 using the Zoom videoconference platform. Attendees using the log-in information provided found themselves in an online event that did not appear to include organizers, leading to confusion. A short while later, the virtual forum was disrupted by a user who Zoom bombed it with noise and disruptive language that prevented anyone else from speaking without interruption. The person in charge of the forum ultimately shut it down after failing to be able to mute the disruptions. An attendee of the Zoom meeting posted in the chat feature before it was shut down the forum information appeared to have been shared on Twitter. It was not clear, though, where the disruptions originated from. "We are having technical difficulties and had to shut down the meeting," Summer Smith, the city's director of communications and community engagement, said in an email when asked about the forum. "We'll reschedule." No new date for the forum was immediately announced. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

The Times Union is reporting Sunmark Credit Union October 29, announced members of the Columbia-Greene Federal Credit Union had agreed to merge. Just the day before, Sunmark announced a merger with Westchester County-based Hudson River Financial Federal Credit Union. Both mergers are expected to be completed on November 30. The credit union's two offices, in Hudson and Coxsackie, will continue to operate, but under the Sunmark name. Columbia-Greene has 5,000 members and $36 million in assets. Sunmark, based in Latham, has 65,500 members and $810 million in assets. Read more in the Times Union.

Today's daily news update.

Amanda Fries is reporting for the Times Union officials are reminding New Yorkers that according to state law, individuals can vote in-person even if they have already voted by mail. Any voter who opts to visit the polls in person, the contents of their absentee ballot will be voided. Election officials expect many absentee ballots will be voided once electronic poll books recording in-person votes are checked against those who have sent in absentee ballots. However, the system does not work in reverse: an in-person vote will always invalidate an absentee ballot, no matter when it is sent in. Absentee ballots go through verifications such as signature checks to ensure the vote is cast by the intended registered voter. Although a voter's decision to switch from an absentee ballot to a vote in-person adds a layer to the ballot verification process, election officials said they are up to the task. Both the number of absentee ballots requested and returned, as well as attendance at early-voting sites this year have shattered previous records in New York and other states. Most recently, local boards have announced expanded early voting hours in order to accommodate the increased demand. Read more in the Times Union.

Stephanie Rivas is reporting for News10 [dot] com beginning November 1, the current state seat belt law will be expanded to require anyone over the age of 16 to buckle up wherever they are sitting in a vehicle. Currently, that requirement applies only to people riding in the front seat. Kurt Edwards, Chief of Trauma and Critical Care in the Department of Surgery at Albany Medical Center, believes the amended law could save lives. “I don’t get to see a lot of the people who weren’t wearing seat belts in the back because they never make it to my trauma center…because they die,” Edwards said. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seat belts reduce the seriousness of crash-related injuries and deaths by almost half. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said there will be a grace period for tickets through his agency, but when enforcement does begin, the passenger who fails to wear the seat belt will be given the $50 ticket. Read more at news10 [dot] com.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos announced October 29, that more than $855,000 in state grants have been awarded to recipients in Columbia, Orange and Rensselaer counties and other locations to assist communities located in the Hudson River Estuary "to improve water quality, increase flood resiliency, and conserve natural resources," according to a press release. “New York is committed to restoring the state’s waterways, bolstering resiliency, protecting habitat, and creating stronger communities,” Seggos said. The awards were made through the DEC’s Estuary Grants Program. In Columbia, Orange and Rensselaer counties, Riverkeeper will receive $200,778 to evaluate at least nine priority dams on six tributaries of the Hudson River to determine if removal will improve water quality and restore connectivity for river herring and American eel. Other recipients include the Open Space Institute in Putnam County; the town of Esopus in Ulster County; and Hudson Valley Arts and Science in Westerchester County. The Estuary Grants Program is now in its 19th year. Read the full press release at dec [dot] ny [dot] gov.

MidHudson News is reporting State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett has announced his retirement, effective the end of November. The Orange County resident has been a trooper for 35 years. He cited “personal family reasons” for his retirement. “It has been a great honor working alongside the brave men and women of the New York State Police,” he said. “I am proud of what we have accomplished together on behalf of all New Yorkers, and I am deeply grateful for your service.” Corlett became the state's 16th superintendent on June 4, 2019. Read more at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news.

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

The coronavirus outbreak is as large now locally as it was in May during the lockdown, Bethany Bump reports in the Times Union. The Capital Region is just 17 recent cases short of the area's spring peak of 147 new cases recorded May 1, a Times Union analysis of local county data shows. "It seems as though for us, the next wave has started," said Dr. Fred Venditti, hospital general director for Albany Medical Center. Columbia County reported four new COVID-19 cases Oct. 28, and the 41st death from coronavirus there, this one tied to the Ghent Assisted Living Facility. There are recent cases in many local schools including Catskill, Greenville, Taconic Hills, Ichabod Crane, and Hudson. There are currently 35 active cases in the Greene Correctional Facility in Coxsackie. There are also outbreaks at the Ghent Assisted Living Facility, and the Brookwood Secure Center for juvenile offenders in Claverack. Ichabod Crane 4th through 12th graders will continue online learning on Oct. 29 while the district waits for results from COVID-19 tests on middle and high school students. There are 19 people hospitalized from Columbia County right now. There were 11 new cases of COVID-19 announced by the Rensselaer County Health Department on Oct. 28. The five-day rolling average of new daily cases in the region on Oct. 26 was 78 cases, and the earlier peak was 117 on May 2. New York state reports that daily hospitalizations in the region have increased more than 400 percent over the past month, from 15 on Sept. 27 to 80 on Oct. 27. Columbia County Public Health Director Jack Mabb said Oct. 27 that officials will start fining businesses where people are not wearing masks now that the outbreak is so prevalent locally. The only good news is that there are fewer deaths considering how many more cases there are now. “What’s interesting is we’re seeing a very, very different outcome for patients being hospitalized now than we did in the spring,” Dr. Steven Hanks, chief clinical officer for St. Peter’s Health Partners, told the Times Union. “The mortality rate seems to be much lower. The number of hospitalized patients who go to the ICU is down compared with spring. The number of patients needing to be ventilated is down compared with spring. And the number of patients who are dying with COVID-19 who are hospitalized is down compared with spring.” With schools reopening, and pandemic fatigue setting in, health officials are urging people to help stop the spread of the disease. “People were taking that to mean they could be doing other things, like attending parties and socializing in groups and maybe letting their guard down in terms of wearing masks and keeping distance socially and avoiding large gatherings,” Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said about in-person teaching at schools. “But those latter three strategies are more important than ever and what people need to understand is the ability for us to keep businesses functioning and schools open are entirely contingent on those behaviors.” If things don't get better soon, there will be another lockdown. “If people aren’t compliant and if people keep acting like it’s either a hoax or it doesn’t exist or they don’t like to wear masks, you know, yeah, we could be heading for (another shutdown),” Whalen said.

Aliya Schneider is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media two decisions made by the Hudson Planning Board Tue., Oct. 27. In a unanimous decision, the board decided the front patio of BackBar, located in the 300 block of Warren Street, can now stay open permanently. The original request to add outdoor seating and two tents was approved until January 2021. “We’re trying to keep it as healthy as possible and still be able to employ the same number of people, which we’ve been able to do so far this year,” BackBar's attorney said. Prior to the May expansion, the front patio space was essentially unused with the exception of some events, for which BackBar had to apply for permits, General Manager Alex Glen said. No members of the public spoke at the public hearing held prior to the vote, Oct. 27. That same night, the board gave the go-ahead to the Columbia Filling Station, a new brewery proposed for the building that formerly housed the TJ Auto Service Center on upper Columbia Street. Emma O’Donnell and her husband Paul O’Donnell, of 735 Columbia St. LLC, want to acquire the property at 735-737 Columbia St., to create a bar, restaurant and brewery. The application passed under the conditions the couple pays all escrow fees, and amplified music is not permitted at the venue after 10 p.m. Only Planning Board member Larry Bowen voted against the plan. Read more at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

Susan Arbetter is reporting for State of Politics a group of environmental activists October 28, sent Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo a letter urging him to sign into law a bill passed in June that would permanently prohibit the burning of toxic firefighting foam, or AFFF. The foam contains the same PFAS chemicals found in Hoosick Falls. The measure was limited to "certain cities," in particular Cohoes, Albany County, where the company Norlite has been burning the material. Joe Ritchie, a junior at Syracuse University and executive director of Saratoga Sites Against Norlite Emissions, is a lifelong resident of Saratoga Sites, the public housing complex next door to Norlite. "It’s literally a stone’s throw away," Ritchie said of his home relative to the Norlite facility. "Sometimes when we get the mail, we have to hold our breath because of just how pungent the smell is from Norlite." Ritchie is one of the signatories on the letter. Sean Mahar, chief of staff at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the agency takes oversight of all facilities that require permits very seriously. Mahar also said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos wants staff to consider Norlite’s permit renewal applications as new applications, "so they are not the same, typical, streamlined renewal processes that some facilities go through." Ritchie says trust in the DEC among Saratoga Sites’ residents is pretty low. "[The] DEC allowed Norlite to illegally burn AFFF for two years, even though a DEC monitor was on-site," Richie said. "Generally, we are still looking into why our monitor didn’t do something sooner, but as soon as we did find out about it, that’s when we jumped into action," Mahar said. One action the DEC took was to tell Norlite to stop processing firefighting foam. Last week, state officials announced detailed plans to test the soil and water around the plant. Read more at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.