Today's audio daily news update.

Brendan J. Lyons reports for the Times Union that the U.S. Supreme Court will review New York's new ammunition background checks at a conference on Oct. 6. Democrats in the state Legislature a year ago passed the new rules after a ruling by the Supreme Court threw out New York's century-old concealed carry rules. Some gun store owners have reported glitches in the new ammo background checks, but the State Police issued a statement saying the National Instant Criminal Background Check System “processes transactions immediately. However, some responses will take longer than others depending on the amount of research required.” Rep. Elise Stefanik, who represents Rensselaer County and the rest of the 21st Congressional District, is excited about the Supreme Court conference, saying, “Governor Hochul’s state-run background check system and tax on constitutional rights are causing serious delays and false denials.... I have heard from constituents, including former law enforcement officials, who have successfully purchased a firearm only to be denied the ability to purchase ammunition. The delays are also causing community firearm retailers to lose customers who say they aren’t going to wait and instead go to neighboring states for ammunition to avoid the state registration and extra taxes.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

The Upstater reports that the Taconic Hills Central School District Board of Education on Sept. 5 unanimously approved the appointment of Lynnette Brunger as Superintendent of Schools, effective October 10. Brunger is currently the assistant superintendent at Liberty CSD in Sullivan County. She said, “I am honored to be selected to serve Taconic Hills and look forward to working alongside our families, community members, and board to support our teachers, administrators, and students. Educators today have an exciting, yet intense role and when they are appreciated for all they do, our students and community are the beneficiaries. My goal is to continue to improve our schools and provide our students with the best education and experience possible.” Brunger has been a teacher or an administrator for 27 years. “We are excited to welcome Lynnette Brunger to Taconic Hills CSD and introduce her to our school community. Board President Bonnie Torchia said, "She stood out among a strong pool of candidates with administrative experience. Her background and commitment to providing all students with a high-quality education makes her the right person to lead our school district." Read more about this story at The Upstater.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Stewart International Airport opened in Orange County in April 1990 with flights by American, Delta, US Air, and later added Midway, Jet Blue, AirTran, Norwegian Air, and Frontier airlines. Today it Allegiant Air flies to Florida and seasonally to Myrtle Beach and Play Air goes to Iceland. Atlantic Airways recently flew a few flights to the Faroe Islands, but that is it. Still, Stewart Development Director Yil Surehan remains upbeat, saying, “We feel pretty good about getting another domestic carrier in here by next year and one to two international carriers next year." Read more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

Molly Burke reports for the Times Union that a report from New York's comptroller released Sept. 25 says many rural counties face difficult economic and quality of life conditions because of population loss, aging residents, a shrinking labor force, and a lack of access to housing, health care, food, and broadband service. Greene and Delaware counties were among the ten rural counties studied in Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's report. From 2011 to 2021, the ten counties lost 3.4 percent of their population, while during the same period the rest of New York's population rose 4.2 percent. The rural counties are much older too, with their median age rising 6.5 percent from 43 years to 45.8 years, compared to 39.2 years-old in the rest of the state. And the affordable housing crisis can be explained with this sentence, "More than 32 percent of housing units in the rural counties are vacant, due to their use as second homes and vacation residences." New York has a $100 million plan to revitalize rural communities’ downtowns, a $21.7 million rural rental assistance program, and $9.4 million for expanding rural health care access. DiNapoli said, “Demographic and other changes pose difficulties for local and state officials as they look for policies to boost communities and increase connectivity and access to health care and other services.... Yet the shift in remote work and migration from urban areas could offer opportunities for rural communities to grow and thrive.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Liz Montgomery reports in Porcupine Soup that a new state report says that visitors to Greene County spent an estimated $283 million in 2022, up $52 million from a year earlier and $90 million more than in 2019. Travelers to the Catskills spent 51 percent on lodging, 20 percent on second homes, and 14 percent on food and beverages. Warren Hart, Greene County deputy county administrator and director of Economic Development, Planning and Tourism, said during a recent meeting of county lawmakers, “We have surpassed where we were in 2019… before the pandemic.... We all know how important the tourism/travel sector is to Greene County.” Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Spencer Conlin reports at New York State of Politics that Attorney General Letitia James has New York in a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and 16 other states, accusing Amazon of using its position in the market to inflate prices, overcharge sellers, and stifle competition. Amazon Senior Vice President David Zapolsky posted a statement saying the company is not acting as a monopoly, saying, “Over the last several years, we’ve engaged cooperatively with the FTC during a broad-ranging investigation of our business.... It was our hope the agency would recognize that Amazon’s innovations and customer-centric focus have benefited American consumers through low prices and increased competition in the already competitive retail industry.” Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Today's audio daily news update.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that Rep. Marc Molinaro said Sept. 26 that he is working closely with other Republicans to avoid a government shutdown. Currently, a group of ultra-conservative Republicans are rebuffing all efforts to compromise with Democrats on a plan that could pass both the House of Representatives and Senate and get signed by the president. But Molinaro, who represents the 19th Congressional District, says he can help solve the impasse, saying, “I have lived through it as a local official and I am certainly doing everything in my power to help push my colleagues toward avoiding one.... I have been heavily involved in intensive conversation to mold a consensus with the Republican majority to present a budget proposal that reigns in federal spending, meets the needs and respects taxpayers, and secures the border.” Some sort of spending bill must be passed by Oct. 1 to keep the federal government operating, but a deal seems unlikely. Democrat Pat Ryan represents the 18th Congressional District, and explained how Republicans are unlikely to pass a spending bill in time. Ryan said, “Laterally, from going back to the first days of this Congress, where it took 15 rounds for the Republicans to choose their leader, it’s been chaos, chaos, chaos.... This is really a continuation and sort of culmination of what chaos and division gets you with very real and very dangerous consequences for our district and the country.” Ryan suggests that if five Republicans in the House signed on to it in order to keep the government open a “discharge petition” could be passed that would cut House Speaker Kevin McCarthy out of negotiations and allow for the government to remain open while a budget deal could be made. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Pamela Badilla, the coordinator of the the Hudson Youth Clubhouse, doesn't want the group kicked out of its home at 11 Warren St. Columbia County purchased the property last month for $3.35 million from the Galvan Foundation, with plans to use the property to store voting machines and for governmental office space, not for a youth center. Badilla wrote to the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, saying, “Bringing innovative and inspirational programs to young people and opportunities for local individuals and organizations to hold performances, meetings, counseling sessions, recovery support, harm reduction, community building celebrations, workshops and other events, at no cost, youth and young adults receive regular care, attentive guidance and mentoring. Their character is nurtured through the variety of choices offered, and they have grown to enjoy a sense of belonging to something very special, something real.” The Hudson Youth Clubhouse has not said when it will have to leave the space, and does not yet have anywhere to go. Columbia County Board of Supervisors Chair Matt Murell said, “We purchased the buildings to put county departments in,” Murell said. “We’re trying to program the building to deal with three to four county departments as well as storage for the Board of Elections, so it’s doubtful that the Hudson Youth Clubhouse will remain.” The Catskill Youth Clubhouse is on Main St. there, and they do a live radio show on WGXC at 6 p.m. every Friday. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Luke Parsnow reports for New York State of Politics that New York state is not allowing schools to buy or use facial recognition technology, the state Department of Education announced Sept. 27. Schools can use other kinds of biometric identifiying technology that is not facial recognition, such as fingerprint identification, as long as privacy, civil rights, and parental input is considered, Education Commissioner Betty Rosa said. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a moratorium in 2020 on facial recognition in schools, and ordered a study on the issue. That report found serious concerns about facial recognition technology and said that, "the risks of the use of FRT in an educational setting may outweigh the benefits." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Today's daily news audio update.

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

Alison Durkee reports in Forbes that Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on Sept. 26 that former President Donald Trump and his company committed fraud in New York by overstating the value of their assets. The ruling from the judge came in the lawsuit Attorney General Letitia James brought against the former president, which starts Oct. 2. James’ office had argued Engoron should rule on this issue now because “no trial is required” to find Trump liable. The judge ruled that the documents uncovered in the case “clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business.” Engoron did not believe Trump's lawyers arguments, such as that measuring square footage is a “subjective process.” Engoron canceled several of Trump’s business certificates and ordered the dissolution of Trump-related LLCs, and also sanctioned several of Trump’s attorneys $7,500 for making arguments the court had repeatedly tossed out. Trump’s attorneys said on Sept. 26 that “While the full impact of the decision remains unclear, what is clear is that President Trump will seek all available appellate remedies to rectify this miscarriage of justice.” Read more about this story in Forbes.

Nancy Solomon reports in Gothamist that New York's Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined the growing call for fellow Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, to resign after he was indicted last week. Gillibrand said, "The American people deserve a government they can trust ... that they're not questioning whether their elected leaders are working for the people or for themselves. And in light of that lack of trust. I share Sen. Booker's views that he should step down." Federal prosecutors allege Menendez took hundreds of thousands of dollars and lavish gifts in exchange for helping Egypt with weapons deals and aid. Several other Democrats in the Senate have also called for Menendez to resign, but New York's other senator, Chuck Schumer, has not joined that chorus so far. Read more about this story in Gothamist.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup about efforts to bring back a St. Patrick's Day parade to East Durham. The East Durham St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee has scheduled an event for Sunday, March 17 with Neil Kellegher as grand marshal. Committee Chairman Michael O’Connor said it has been since 1993 since there was a parade in the Irish-tinged town. “I really don’t know why,” he said. “The best answer anyone could give me was Greenville has one.” Anyone who wants to be in the parade, or help with organizing, should email EDPARADE@gmail.com. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Rebecca Shabad and Chloe Atkins report for NBC News that New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron held a pretrial hearing Sept. 22 for New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil lawsuit against Donald Trump. The former president's lawyers asked for all seven causes of action in the complaint to be dismissed, while James claimed that the defendants made frivolous arguments. There are clearly two sides here that are far apart. Trump's lawyers say that James has "no valid authority" to sue, that the lawsuit was filed outside the statute of limitations, and that her office has, “failed to demonstrate any even theoretical harm to anyone, public or private.” James' office says the Trumps and their family business, the Trump Organization, are already liable for fraud even before the Oct. 2 trial. "The undisputed evidence establishes that Defendants employed a variety of deceptive schemes to grossly inflated values for many of Mr. Trump’s assets," her office wrote in a filing. The case is about the former president and his business, and whether they have repeatedly provided fraudulent financial information. For instance, the state alleges that Trump regularly overstated his personal net worth to financial institutions, by as much as $2.2 billion one year. On Tuesday, Sept. 26, the judge in the case said he would issue an order on the two summary judgments — one from each side — and the attorney general's request for sanctions soon. If he sides with the defendants’ summary judgment there will be no trial. Read more about this story at NBC News.

Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that after some delay, the Public Service Commission has scheduled four in-person public hearings about Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.’s proposal for a large price hike for electricity and gas customers. One hearing will be at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the Robert Antonelli Senior Center in Catskill. The others will be held in October in Kingston, Newburgh, and Poughkeepsie. At online hearings last week 48 speakers weighed in on the proposed rate increases, most opposing the price hikes. Central Hudson wants a one-year 16 percent increase in the delivery rate for electricity and 19 percent for gas customers. They claim that would add roughly $1 a day to the typical electric customer and natural gas customer. The proposal for higher costs comes as records indicate that from February 2020 through June 30 of this year, residential customers’ arrears greater than 60 days grew by 1,044 percent, to $96 million, while non-residential arrears grew by 1,971 percent, to $29 million. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.