Jeanette Wolfberg reports in the Columbia Paper that the Columbia County Board of Supervisors voted December 14 to submit it to the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services its plan, “to identify and confront threats of domestic terrorism” locally. Last May, Gov. Kathy Hochul mandated that every county create such a plan. In Columbia County, the Emergency Management Department assembled a group of over 20 stakeholders with representatives from law enforcement, education, mental health, medical services, private organizations, and the Board of Supervisors’ Public Safety Committee, including Supervisor Jeanne Mettler of Copake. The group focused on cybersecurity and racism, both issues reported in the county in the past year. The City of Hudson had a ransomware attack in December, disrupting city emails. And last May two banners with racist slogans were hung over I-90, and this fall bags with fliers with a racist message were spread on lawns in Chatham. Columbia County is creating a Threat Assessment Management team to confront the racism with "education and outreach." Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.