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Wednesday headlines

Sep 21, 2011 4:39 am
WikiLeaks cable: Al Jazeera director removed content at U.S. government’s request
Steve Myers at the Poynter Institute's Romenesko+ blog reports that a WikiLeaks leaked cable shows that Al Jazeera removed content from its news site at the request of the U.S. Government. "The cable, from the U.S. embassy in Doha, indicates that the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency sent regular reports criticizing Al Jazeera content, both on-air and online. A U.S. government official told Khanfar in a meeting 'that problems still remain with double-sourcing in Iraq; identifying sources; use of inflammatory language; a failure to balance ... extremist views; and the use of terrorist tapes.'" Foreign Policy magazine says the portrait painted by the 30-plus cables related to Al Jazeera, "is not evidence of any sort of conspiracy so much as an organization struggling to maintain professional standards." Al Jazeera English airs on WGXC at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Read the full story at Romenesko+.

Insurance information for storm victims
The New York State Insurance Department Mobile Command Center will be back in Prattsville, Wed., Sept. 21 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the temporary Town Hall there at 14517 Main Street, in Prattsville. The MCC will park to the right of the FEMA tent. Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services, will also be there, meeting with Assemblyman Peter Lopez, Prattsville Supervisor Kory O'Hara, and other local officials, from 1-2 p.m. The command center takes questions and helps residents with insurance issues.

Disaster recovery centers come to Columbia County
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) brings two disaster recovery locations in Columbia County for residents that have questions or still need to apply for assistance from FEMA as a result of Hurricane Irene. From Sept. 20-22, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., there will be a FEMA center at the Copake Community Center, Sept. 24-26, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., there will be a FEMA center at the Chatham Firehouse. If you have any questions call the Columbia County Emergency
Management Office at 518-828-1212

Hudson Crop Walk Sunday
The annual CROP Walk against hunger steps off this Sunday, September 25, at 2 p.m. from Christ Church Episcopal, 431 Union Street. CROP Walks are community-wide events sponsored by Church World Service to raise funds to end hunger. The Interfaith Council of Hudson organized the Hudson walk. Walkers raise money from supporters with 25 percent of the funds going to local food pantries. For information, call 518 828-1329.

Gillibrand works on farm bill
As the first New Yorker on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years and just held a series of listening sessions with state farmers about how the new national Farm Bill may impact them. “New York is home to America’s hardest working farmers and the world’s finest locally-grown produce,” Senator Gillibrand said in a press release. “But for too long, our farmers have been held back by an outdated and unfair pricing system, and other obstacles to grow their businesses. We need our farmers to thrive if we’re going to have a strong and growing economy in New York. I’ve met with and heard from local farmers in every corner of our state, and now I’m fighting for these proposals in the next Farm Bill to make sure it’s a good deal for our farmers.” New York state contains over 35,000 farms on 7.1 million acres generating approximately $4.5 billion each year. For the Farm Bill, Gillibrand has sveral proposals, including:
• The Dairy Pricing Reform and Farmer Protection Act, legislation that would reform the pricing system to improve transparency and price discovery.
• Reforming the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program with the structure of a margin-based insurance policy to provide dairy farmers with a safety net when the cost of feed is high and market prices are low.
• Retain Specialty Crop Block Grants that help ensure long-term viability of specialty crops, which include fruits, vegetables, maple, honey and horticulture products. Congress is cutting many budget items and these are in danger.
• Allow participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to use these benefits at farmers markets through mobile technologies.
• A Community Supported Agriculture Promotion Act that would establish a competitive grant program to award federal funds to non-profit organizations, extension services, and state and local government agencies to provide grower support – ranging from marketing and business assistance to crop development – to new or current CSA farmers, as well as assist in the development of innovative delivery and distribution programs.
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